The only post I could find on this is from '01.The apartment I want to rent in Venice, for 3 nights in April, only receives deposits this way. It gets very good reviews and one person said he had worried, "but needn't have". That was in 2010. I can't imagine doing it. Also I can't understand the owner's email about how to send the deposit. She apoligizes for her English, but she wrote a very clear response to one review. Worries me a little. I've tried putting in the VRBO listing number with no hits. Thanks for any thoughts.

What is your concern?

I wonder why you didn't list the VRBO number here, it couldn't have hurt. I gather you are concerned the apt doesn't exist? Well, what can anyone tell you but if the owner says those are the only two ways and you refuse to do them, case closed. Look for another apt. So now you are worried that you didn't get someone totally fluent in English when you are renting in a foreign country? You shouldn't be dealing with VRBO or private owners if you are so nervous about these kind of things.

Not to make issues where there shouldn't be any but there is a long thread on this website about scams on VRBO. Not that the person on VRBO doesn't have a real apartment or doesn't deal with rentals properly but that a third party has "hijacked" a VRBO owner's email address and is fraudulently pretending to be the owner.

Here's the thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...scam-alert.cfm (read past the initial post down to where it is figured out that the owner's email account was hacked and that's why VRBO "guarantee" was not going to cover it.)

The best advice on that thread is to PHONE the "purported" owner, discuss in detail the apartment, and see if you are still comfortable this person is really the owner and the apartment is really the apartment.

It's worth a long distance phone call to check. And it seems appropriate if is as OP was concerned that the owner on her website wrote very good English but the person on the email did not. Are they the same person or not?

By the way ,have you checked sending money this way? Last time checked it was pretty expensive!

I would never deal with anyone who insisted on a moneygram or Western Union payment. Their fees are extortionate! There are plenty of alternatives that are way cheaper: Paypal or an international draft, for example.

If you can't understand the owner's English, why not post it here? You'll likely get some help with it.

Isn't the Western Union requirement the hallmark of scammers, since the sender has zero recourse if something goes wrong? I'd run away from that one.

Their fees are reasonable: http://www.xe.com/fx/ but it requires establishing an account just like with a bank. The apartment owner should be able to give the relevant information for a direct deposit.

If they don't or won't use PayPal or a similarly reliable money transfer method, don't buy. There are too many ways in which someone who IS legit can easily, cheaply, and effectively PROVE that s/he is legit for a consumer to have to go through no-recourse transactions like Western Union or moneygram. Those no-recourse portals are probably cheaper for the payee, but as the payor you need protection and any legitimate supplier of a good or service should want you to have that protection too.

The fractured English isn't a red flag to me as even the hostal I'm staying in Granada used Google translate to translate my email. I would be concerned about the Western Union wire, simply because once they have your money, there's little means of tracking them down and like a previous poster said, it's used by many scam artists.

If you could give us the vrbo number, perhaps someone could tell you more about the area and building?

>>>Isn't the Western Union requirement the hallmark of scammers<<<

Not always. Many convents in Italy use Western Union for their deposits and it's your only option. Western Union is expensive. The last time I used them they charged $15 plus gave a lousy exchange rate (about a 10% mark-up).

Thank you for all the responses. The listing is #117885, "Apartment in Venice with Beautiful View Laguna". I should have thought of that. Christina, it isn't that I'm concerned that she's not "someone totally fluent in English", it is, as I said, that she wrote such a clear reply to one review. I'm not the nervous type, but with that and the Western Union thing, I thought I'd check it out. Michael, thanks for http://www.xe.com/fx/. It's very helpful. laurie_ann, thanks for that thread. I was looking for something like that. Thanks for any further info.

to save everyone the extra steps . . . here is the listing http://www.vrbo.com/117885

Thanks janisj, I couldn't figure out how to do that.

From the pictures, this doesn't seem to be the same apartment, but has the exact same map location and name of apartment. Perhaps it's in the same building, but different owner.
http://www.arsenale-celestia.com/?PAGINA=8&LINGUA=en

I didn't click on through on Janice's link which takes you to another page, but doesn't show that it's an independent website. There seems to be a bit of difference in security deposit.

The cell phone numbers are the same for both.

From VRBO = +39 3477942181
From webpage = +39 347 7942181

I wonder which photos are current or perhaps they have two apartments?

Thanks for finding this. Not sure what to make of it. Do you think working through an independent website is better?

As mentioned above, asking for payment via Western Union is the mark of a scam, especially in the accommodation sector. Italians are totally used to bank transfers and never use WU, especially since WU offices are so infrequent and so expensive. If you google the phone number, you might get more clues on the validity of the offer: 393477942181 Personally, I would not send a deposit via WU.