Marco Island police warn visitors of rental scams

The Marco Island Police Department is warning visitors and residents about rental scams involving fake property listings, urging people to stay vigilant when booking accommodations.

"Yeah, it doesn't surprise me either. I feel like this is probably a hot spot to take advantage of people, and I feel like it'd be best that we continue to stop this," said Alex Burke, a Marco Island resident.

Marco Island, a popular destination that sees about 40,000 visitors annually, brings significant income to the local economy but also creates opportunities for scams. Police say some individuals are being tricked into booking properties that do not exist.

"Sometimes we'll have like Facebook groups where it'll be like, a condo on the beach that is for rent. And it and it might seem like a really low price, but that might be someone that's trying to scam you. So you'll just send them a certain amount of money and they're kind of profiting off of that," said Christian Davies of the Marco Island Police Department.

Davies explained that scammers often use third-party apps to collect payments, which can be a warning sign.

"If someone's asking you for like, a deposit over Zelle or Cash App or Venmo or one of those third-party apps, it might not be the best idea to to trust that," Davies said. "What I would recommend is one if you can try and meet them either in person or on the phone and have a conversation with a legitimate person, and not fall for those too good to be true scams."

Paul Burke, another Marco Island resident, expressed concern about the impact of these scams on the community.

"Oh. That's awful. I mean, taking advantage of anyone's is is a horrible thing, but especially here in our beautiful community. You know, there's a lot of people here who are elderly and, you know, those populations need extra care. So for the people who are doing that, I mean, that's just that's awful to hear," Burke said.

The Marco Island Police Department encourages anyone who has been scammed or notices a suspicious rental listing to contact them immediately.