Accommodation Scams in Rio de Janeiro

Fake Vacation Rental Booking

Fraudulent short-term rental listings for Rio de Janeiro apartments — particularly in Ipanema, Copacabana, and Santa Teresa — collect deposits or full payment then prove non-existent on arrival. Forum reports on TripAdvisor describe arriving to find no apartment, an unresponsive host, or a unit already legitimately occupied by someone else. Listings often use stolen photos from real properties and appear on third-party sites.