After this long year and a half that we’ve all had, I’m sure many of us are longing to travel to some place new #wanderlust. There are a few security risks to be aware of during the car rental process from using Bluetooth to avoiding rental car scams.

Bluetooth devices

When I was in Ohio this summer for my bestest bud’s wedding, I rented a car to get myself around. Like most people, as soon as I got to the car, I attempted to set up a Bluetooth link for my phone so I listen to music, take calls, or use the navigation handsfree while driving. This is what I saw in the screen showing devices already registered to the car:

More information is revealed when you tap on some of the registered devices.

In the hands of a fraudster, this is information about you that they could use to attempt to scam you. There are plenty of unscrupulous ways to find someone by their phone number online, which I won’t share here. Imagine with a tiny bit of research, a fraudster is able to get your first and last name to match the phone number. They would already know what type of car you had rented and from which rental agency. That could be enough to call you and convincingly pretend to be the rental company. They could make up a story about something valuable that was left in the car like AirPods or nice sunglasses. If you could send $20 to cover shipping costs and fees, the company would be happy to ship it back.

I don’t mean this to be scary but rather enlightening! It all comes down to protecting your personal information.

Be More Secure Tip >

Before you turn over the keys, make sure you remove your phone from the registered Bluetooth devices in your rental car.

Watch out for scams

The high demand for rental cars we saw last summer was fresh meat for scammers. Some victims are falling prey after searching for phone numbers or rental car companies. They then click on websites that appear legitimate but are not. Search engine ads, the ones at the top of the results, are often utilized by fraudsters to grab your attention before the legitimate ones. Sometimes these scammy websites are promoted via emails to unsuspecting customers and can look very sophisticated.

More Secure Tips >

• If you’ve found a good deal from a company that you’ve never heard of, the FTC has a good tip: “Research the rental car company by searching for the name of the company and words like “scam,” “complaint,” or “review” to check if other people have had a bad experience.”
• If you are trying to reach a major rental company, find their contact information directly on their official website. Don’t click on an advertised result in a search engine.
• NEVER pay with a prepaid debit or gift card. No reputable company will ever ask for these as payment.