HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — AARP says you can find some great travel deals online, but you can also find scammers looking to put your money into their pockets.

AARP says this it how it works:
You find a travel booking site or vacation app offering exclusive vacation deals, rentals, or car rentals at a lower than expected price, and you are asked to pay upfront.

What you should know:
Scammers create bogus travel sites that appear high up in search rankings because they pay for those spots.
The sites can look real because they use the same language, colors, and logos as the legitimate sites.
Some of the fake vacation rental listings are stolen from real listings and altered.
Shady rental car sites can also look like a real company, but the thieves who set them up will simply take your money and then disappear.
If you are asked to pay for your rental car or rental home outside the app or site it is most likely a scammer.

What you should do:
Be skeptical of any pitch that offers steep discounts.
Research a company along with the word “scam” and read what people have to say about their experience.
Pay for travel reservations and bookings with a credit card, it offers better protection
When renting a car online, type in the web address instead of using a search engine. It will reduce the chance of accidentally landing on a look-alike site.