Internet Scam

I received a call from a potential guest at our townhome in San Antonio yesterday. She had emailed us an inquiry, a long time ago, and unfortunately the townhouse was rented for the dates she requested. Still searching for a place to stay in San Antonio over July 4th week-end, she checked Craig's List. There in the list of homes to rent was Tobin Hill Townhome with all the same pictures as we have posted on HomeAway and VRBO! She contacted the "owner" and was told the property was available but was alarmed at the way he wanted her to pay. She went back to our site and confirmed that the property was still reserved and figured out that someone had copied and pasted our pictures and was "renting" the townhome illegally. She notified Craig's List via their "scam alert" and they deleted the ad. I notified HomeAway/VRBO and they responded that they have a copyright claim on their website but of course criminals don't abide by it!!! All we can do is "search the net" periodically to try and stop any false advertisements. Hate to think of people traveling all the way to San Antonio only to find out they have been duped!
Kay received an email the other day telling of a new burglary scam. Criminals break into cars in event parking lots, steal the GPS and remote control, and are led by our own technology straight to our homes. The email recommended that you never use your actual home address - put in an address nearby. Let them try to find our "home" address!