The southern areas of Vermont are raking in profits from vacation property rentals. Host towns of ski areas such as Wilmington town around Mount Snow are having a terrific season with the steady influx of visitors. There have been, however, reports by some visitors of their fun being cut short due to the widespread occurrence of vacation rental scams.

Vpr.net reporter Susan Keese says that with the number of fake ads on the online classified website Craigslist, web managers of the site have decided to warn its users of to be extra careful when dealing with vacation property advertisers. Meanwhile, Wilmington Police Chief Joe Szarejko shares that his town has had to deal with at least four to give cases of rental scams wreaking havoc on several of their visitors.

Szarejko adds that these cases take roots in advertised rentals of a single Vermont property over at Craigslist. The police chief explained that victims were e-mailed and told to pay a deposit fee only via a pre-paid debit card distributed by Western Union, Wal Mart and Visa. The victims were shocked to find the absence of a vacation house, thus seeking help from the police.