Venerus v Avis - Is This a Scam?

Geoff_Pierce

One thing that i noticed from "Mystery Man`s" initial posting is that both my Claimant ID and Confirmation codes are completely different from his, coupled with the fact that when he entered this information on the website, the online form was pre-populated with his actual holiday booking details, suggests that this would have to be an incredibly complex scam to go to this level of deceit, printing & sending out unique letters, to unique addresses, with codes which when entered onto the website uniquely identifies a trip.

Also, perhaps, if you wanted to be ultra-cautious, don`t complete the form with your main bank current-account details; I have a few old accounts which have very little money in them, and which I rarely use, so if the worst happened, and somehow (though I don`t know how) the account was to be compromised or emptied, it would have no effect on me.
 
Likewise, if an email address is required, you could create one (gmail etc)  just for this venture, so again it would have no material effect.

I for one am tempted to accept the offer, even though I may get only £100 or something- its enough to pay the gas bill for half a day!

castlegarden

As others I have also received this letter.   
Thanks for all the useful information given so far - mots helpful. 
I eventually found the correct website to log into: veneruscarrentalinsurance.com   and on entering my codes found the form pre-populated with my details.

Having done the checks that others have and on the basis that they already had my contact details and that no bank or password information etc. was required, I completed the form asking for a check (sic) and adding an e-mail address.  (I used a now still open but otherwise unused former business e-mail address which contains no contact details. It is also secure (as much as it can be) and monitored for suspicious behaviour)  I received an immediate response from the following address:  (Confirmation@VenerusCarRentalInsurance.com)

If this is a scam they have gained nothing but an unused e-mail address in addition to what they already had. So will wait and see!!

Will post any updates here.  

Geoff_Pierce

castlegarden said:

As others I have also received this letter.   
Thanks for all the useful information given so far - mots helpful. 
I eventually found the correct website to log into: veneruscarrentalinsurance.com   and on entering my codes found the form pre-populated with my details.

Having done the checks that others have and on the basis that they already had my contact details and that no bank or password information etc. was required, I completed the form asking for a check (sic) and adding an e-mail address.  (I used a now still open but otherwise unused former business e-mail address which contains no contact details. It is also secure (as much as it can be) and monitored for suspicious behaviour)  I received an immediate response from the following address:  (Confirmation@VenerusCarRentalInsurance.com)

If this is a scam they have gained nothing but an unused e-mail address in addition to what they already had. So will wait and see!!

Will post any updates here.  

That`s really useful, thanks. Perhaps if they send the cheque quickly, then the rest of us can wait a few days until you advise that its been received. Presumably the cheque will be made out in US$, so I don`t know how easy that would be to pay into a UK bank account?

castlegarden

If anything is going to be paid out - I don't expect an instant response!!  We will see.

Any cheque in dollars will probably incur an exchange fee at the bank.

Geoff_Pierce

I`ve now been onto the Venerus website, and entered my pair of codes, which successfully launched the electronic form pre-populated with my name & address, and car booking date (2015) & booking reference number.
I`ve checked my travel records and located the paper copy of my Budget rental agreement & invoice, and the booking reference quoted on the form is totally authentic.

So, that would suggest that all the claims forms that have been dispatched in the UK are for genuine Avis-Budget Florida rentals undertaken over those 7 years, and the only question remaining is whether, someone has acquired all this data to manipulate a scam, or its completely genuine! ( I prefer to think the latter)

kevinz3

I also got letter today and I had to look back but cant find anything further back than 2009 and I am sure I did rent a lot between 2008 and 2015 , anyway I opted to fill in and see what happens if I get the mastercard 

km1500

USD cheques are quite expensive to cash here

Moogles44

I got the same letter and also rented car from Avis from Florida. No idea how we paid at the time. I’d be interested what the outcome is as do t know if it’s worth giving my info for a tiny sum . If it’s hundreds let me know 😄

barriedavis

I got this letter this morning.  The only niggle I have is that I rented a car in 2011.  I moved house to a brand new property in 2020.  The letter came to this new address, not the one I used at the time of hire.  Where would they have got that from?

castlegarden

km1500 said:

USD cheques are quite expensive to cash here

My bank will extract a 2.4% fee. If anything comes I might just be able to by a coffee!