GULF SHORES, Ala. — The City of Gulf Shores gets millions of visitors every year.

In 2021, more than eight million people traveled to the Gulf Coast, many of them staying in vacation rentals. That demand has also attracted scammers.

Gulf Shores Police are taking a proactive approach, hosting seminars with property owners and rental companies to share fraud trends and best practices to avoid getting duped.

Police say rental fraud not only affects businesses and visitors but also the community’s reputation. They say these frauds often look the same: stolen credit cards and fake I.D.’s.

Detective Carl Wittstruck says since November 2024, Gulf Shores Police have investigated as many as 15 cases of vacation rental fraud.

“It increases during the summertime and it slows down during the wintertime,” Wittstruck said. “But it’s always something that’s going on.”

Scammers book online with stolen credit cards.

“The person whose credit card has been stolen may not even be aware that it has been stolen,” said Wittstruck. “They take advantage of that time lapse, combine that with an email address and a fake ID or one that’s been doctored, and they make the reservation. By the time it is discovered that there was a fraudulent credit card, where that person whose credit card was stolen gets notified by their credit card company, those people have already left.”

Jeny Stokes with Bender Vacation Rentals in Gulf Shores says she’s seen multiple attempts this year.

“Unable to collect money, credit card not working, try to reach the guest,” Stokes said. “Unable to reach them or they tell us, ‘Oh, well, let me call my partner and we’ll get back with you.’ And we realize, ‘Okay, something may be up.'”

She says catching red flags early has helped them stop fraud before it starts.

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been able to keep them from happening,” said Stokes.

But other rental companies aren’t as lucky.

“If you’re thinking about a three-day stay or a four-day stay during peak season down on Gulf Shores, you’re looking at maybe a two to $4,000 loss, maybe more,” Wittstruck said. “…In one case, a rental company shared with me that their losses so far to date have been $58,000.”

He says the bad actors try to pull off other scams, too. Instead of posing as the renter, the online scammers pretend to be a legitimate rental company.

“They travel down here, let’s say three or four hours down the road,” Wittstruck said. “They come to check in on their condo for a nice week of vacation, only to find out they’ve been scammed out of money.”

His warning:

• Don’t fall for deals that seem to good.
• Reach out to local law enforcement to see what scams are trending,
• Avoid paying through apps, like Apple Pay, where money is hard to recover.

Rental scams like these happen across the country, including in Florida.

Just last year, Florida Attorney General Ashely Moody was sounding the alarm, saying these scams have resulted in nearly $150 million in losses nationwide.

Floridians can report scams to the AG’s office or by visiting this link.