Requesting to book directly outside apps?

[Heidi Kenefick]

Someone messaged me a PDF on Vrbo with their email and phone number requesting to send a certified check for a three week reservation totaling nearly 4K. Is this unusual? Would you guys accept or just ask that they book through the app? Never had anyone request like that before. Would you be concerned about a scam?

[Adam Odom]

Quote from @Lauren Kormylo:

It’s a well known scam. The scam is they send a cashier’s or certified check for 6k by mistake, then ask you to send them the 2K extra back. After you do, you find out their check is counterfeit, and you’ve been scammed out of 2k.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpayment_scam

 As a banker, this is one of the biggest ones we see too. People assume certified checks are always legitimate but with such sophisticated printers now certified checks are one of the most counterfeited items out there.