14 Scammed Into Renting Non-Existent Tobago Villa. Here’s How To Avoid Falling Victim

In any industry, there is always that subset of individuals trying to scam others out of their hard-earned money. Unfortunately, this is a common problem in the travel sector as you are guaranteed to find a scam at any level, whether it be booking airline tickets, cruises, accommodations and tours.

I came across a story from one of my local newspapers where 14 people were scammed after realizing the Tobago holiday villa they booked simply did not exist. According to the report, the group came across a TikTok page called “Tobago Haven Villas” which included numerous photos of their alleged villas, as well as a WhatsApp contact number. There were even a number of positive “reviews” making it seem like the villa was legitimate.

Once the conversation switched the WhatsApp, the supposed villa manager sent more photos, a detailed breakdown of the villas they offered with respective room configurations, payment terms and conditions, and even included Google Maps locations of the supposedly locations of these villas.

Sounds all good, right? The group was then told that they could make a downpayment to a local bank account to secure the first night, which they did. However, upon arriving in Tobago, they quickly realized that the vacation villa they looked forward to spending the weekend at did not exist.  

Even though they were lucky to find alternative accommodations, they were not able to recover their money. As payments were made directly to a local bank account, officials were not able to reverse the transfer as all funds from the recipient account were withdrawn. The affected travelers were then advised to file a report with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Fraud Squad.

What can you do to protect yourself from scams like this? 

Non-traditional bookings like this are very common depending on where you travel to, but conducting transactions through WhatsApp and making direct cash payments opens yourself up to a lot of liability. Here are a few tips on how to avoid being duped by fake listings.

Book through reputable search engines

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Any decent short-term rental typically has a profile with marketplace sites like Booking.com, Airbnb or Vrbo. All of these sites require payments through traditional credit or debit, or via other gateways such as Google Pay or PayPal.

While booking through these sites can be a little more expensive as they charge the villa managers a service fee, it does come with buyer protection as payments made to fake listings can easily be refunded once sufficient evidence is provided. If the booking marketplace is satisfied that a renter was scammed, they typically provide a full refund to the affected client. They would then go after the host, exercising the relevant legal options to recover the stolen funds.

It is much easier to get refunded through these platforms, rather than taking the legal route as there is no guarantee that funds can be recovered, even with police and other forms of legal intervention.

In the past, sites like Homeaway (now Vrbo) allowed potential customers to negotiate payments privately, but with fraud on the rise, most of them have shifted towards facilitating payments on the marketplace. Even through private messaging is allowed, they typically recommend booking through them in order to provide some form of protection.

There are exceptions to this rule of course. A luxury marketplace like Villas of Distinction for instance typically caters to more high-end travelers. Each transaction is handled through a specialist rather than via a regular booking engine. Sites like these have rock solid reputations, making it a safe bet to book with.

It’s understandable that not everyone may have a credit card, and if you are still willing to risk making a direct payment, do your due diligence (talked more about below).

Check for authenticity

Anyone can show random photos of a rental through a messaging platform, so it’s always a good idea to confirm that the rental actually exists. One of the easiest ways to do a Google Images reverse search. In a TikTok video covering the situation above, @yogeetapersaud talked about also coming across the same listing mentioned, but felt uneasy after interacting with the person managing the account.

She decided to reverse image search the photos that were provided to her via WhatsApp, only to discover that they were stolen from other legitimate Airbnb listings for rentals in other countries such as Barbados and Puerto Rico.

@yogeetapersaud

I meant they’re advertising on tiktok idk why I said fb but idk if they’re advertising on fb, insta etc too smh some of the pages are Luxury Villas Tobago, Blue Haven Villas, Tobago Haven Villas and Shirvan Road Villas, these are just some idk if there’s more and their contact is 355-8255. Please be careful guys, search images and stuff before paying online, this Jada person would’ve sent fake id card and stuff to the other person on tiktok who made a video as well on this person and apparently she’s a well known scammer, so id means nothing. Please report these pages. #scam#scamalert #tobagovilla #fyp #viral

♬ original sound – Yogeeta⁷

Besides that, you can also check Google Maps to see if the location actually exists. In the listings advertised by Tobago Haven Villas, they mentioned three villas and even had the audacity to include Google Maps links. However, clicking those links took you to a fashion accessories shop, a completely unrelated villa, and another building that looked to be more a bar than a villa.

The third example is the most obvious as there is also Street View imagery, showing the disparity between what was being advertised versus what is actually there. The persons advertising these supposed villas created fake Google Maps location profiles and included the fake photos, hoping it would confirm the authenticity of their claims. However, recent satellite and street view coverage proves otherwise.

In the photos above, you can clearly see the difference between the front face of the advertised villa and the building actually located at the pin. Another quick giveaway was the differing shape of the pool. As these Street View and map photos were taken in 2025, it’s very unlikely the building was demolished and reconstructed in that short time (at least not by local timelines).

Compare pricing

When looking for vacation properties, it’s always a good idea to see what the average pricing is for the type of stay you are looking for, as well as prices within a particular area. The listing advertised a 4-bedroom villa for a US equivalent of about $185, whereas most other villas in the area of similar status are at least twice to three times that price. Rentals that are too cheap for what they are should be avoided.

Don’t be pressured to make payments

It is understandable that renters may choose to set downpayment deadlines to guarantee availability, but these should be made transparent. If a renter says something like “you need to book immediately in order to guarantee the stay”, that’s usually not a good sign. Renters should have specific set dates relative to the date of stay, and travelers should still do their homework even if it means missing those dates.

Check for reviews, and whether they look genuine

This again is why I prefer reputable marketplace platforms. Typically, reviewers leaving comments have to be verified guests in order for their comments to show up. Comments under Google Maps and on social media are less trustworthy, as anyone can leave a comment with any form of verification. If most of the comments appear too generic and brief, there’s a good chance they make be fake.

Ask for a live video call

Regarding Tobago specifically, many vacationers come from the sister island Trinidad, and typically conduct their transactions via WhatsApp or email, with funds being sent through the banks. It is understandable why this is a popular method as local credit card penetration is still low, on top of the limited availability of foreign exchange.

If a bank transfer is your only option, ask the renter to video call you, so they can give you a quick tour of the property and show the general surroundings. This should be a sure proof way of verifying the listing actually exists.

It is very sad what took place above, and it’s even more surprising that these pages are still active on TikTok. Hopefully the local police can intervene, but in the meantime, do your fair share of homework before booking rentals advertised on non-traditional channels like social media.

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