Car rental scams surge as demand skyrockets for summer road trips, vacations
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The I-Team has reported on the rental car shortage due to car rental businesses selling off fleets of cars at the beginning of the pandemic when demand was low. With fewer cars available, scammers are now taking advantage and preying on consumers amid the high demand.
The Better Business Bureau says it's getting reports of fake rental car companies popping up online, many times the scam numbers can come up in search engines when you search for rental car companies.
When you call the fake company, they say that if you pay for your rental car upfront, you can get a significant discount using a gift card or prepaid debit card.
This is a huge warning sign and consumer experts say you should never pay for anything with a gift card or prepaid card!
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If you want to make sure you're calling the real rental car company, make sure you are getting their number from their official website and not a number that pops up in a search engine's results.
