Holiday Rental - Passport Details

portofinopoll

Have found a Holiday apartment in Spain, on a well known website that I wish to rent.
Sent off to check availability, etc and British owner, with British address now been in touch asking me to fill out my details on a Booking Form and requesting a cheque for £100 as a deposit. This all seems straight forward enough to me, but he has also requested copies of Adult Passports. Potentially this could compromise my security and give access to my Bank Account.
Can anyone please advise if this is standard practice please?
Am I being too cautious?
Portofinopoll

claire16c

Have you asked him why he needs them?

I've only ever shown hotels never rentals

peachyprice

I would imagine he wants passports for the same reason as hotels, he probably wants confirmation as to who you are so he has a little more security should you decide to wreck his property.

How would having your passport give access to your bank account? He'll already have your name, address, account number and sort code, the only additional info he could possibly get from your passport is your DoB, if that's all the additional info needed to access your bank account your bank has very lax security. Do you fear the same when a hotel takes a copy of it, as they have all the same info?