Short-Term Rental and Airbnb Fraud in Jamaica: Fake Listings, Phantom Properties, and Guest Disputes

• Fake short-term rental listings use stolen photos to attract bookings for non-existent properties.
• Guests directed to pay outside the platform’s payment system lose any booking protection.
• Properties may be significantly different from how they are described or photographed in listings.
• Hosts who rent properties they do not own or are not authorised to sublet create legal risk for guests.
• Jamaica Tourism Authority licensing requirements apply to commercial short-term rental operations.

Short-term rental platforms have made it easier for Jamaican property owners to earn income from tourism accommodation, and easier for visitors to find a wider range of accommodation options. They have also created new opportunities for fraudulent operators to exploit guests who rely on digital listings and reviews without being able to physically verify a property before booking. Fake listings — which may use photographs stolen from legitimate properties on the same platforms — are used to collect booking fees for accommodation that does not exist or does not match what was advertised.

A second category of fraud involves hosts who list properties that they are not authorised to rent. A tenant who sublets their own rented accommodation as a short-term rental without the landlord’s knowledge or consent is in breach of their lease, and a guest who books such a property may find their stay disrupted when the landlord discovers the subletting and takes action. More seriously, persons who do not own or lease a property at all have been reported to list addresses they have no connection to, collect payment, and simply not be present when the guest arrives.

Booking Safety and Regulatory Context

Guests booking short-term accommodation in Jamaica should book through the platform’s official payment system rather than paying directly to a host by bank transfer, especially for first-time bookings with a new or unreviewed host. Significant discrepancies between a listing’s description and independently verifiable features should be treated as a warning sign. Commercial short-term rental operations in Jamaica are subject to licensing requirements administered by the Jamaica Tourist Board, a body of the Jamaica Tourism Authority. The JTB’s accommodation licensing framework is described at visitjamaica.com and the Tourism Product Development Company at tpdco.org.

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