COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The changing weather is more than enough to remind all of us, summer vacation season is nearly here.

The goal of a good vacation is relaxation without spending a bundle. The internet is a wonderful tool for bargain seekers, but it does come with it’s pitfalls.

“They’re looking at a lot of different locations and they’re not really then doing the research or whether that’s a legitimate location, whether their reviews for that, whether there are authentic reviews and so they could end up sending deposits ahead of time for locations that don’t exist.,’ says Kip Morse of the Better Business Bureau.

Morse says a common ploy is for scammers to post pictures from other sites, trying to lure you into a luxury location at a bargain price. But when you make your deposit, they keep the cash, and you never end up on your dream vacation.

“You just need to be diligent to make sure you actually picked up the phone, you talked to somebody, you’ve checked the revision, you’ve got to do more research when going online,” said Morse.

Enjoy and have a good time, but be informed and alert so that someone else doesn’t have a good time on your money.