I just received an email which I originally thought was a scam but I think on further review it might not be. In over 10 years of using Avis regularly, this is the first time I’ve ever had an email claiming damage to a car. The “damage” is a scratch on a single alloy wheel, where it’s scraped a curb, a very common problem on most cars. I’m a bit lost as to how to handle this as I didn’t do a thorough check on the car when i collected it and don’t recall any parking spots where this would have happened. The location was Spain.

The rental was over a month ago so I’m a bit surprised by the timing of this too. I used a key drop on return as I was told too. The photo sent was taken an hour or so after I dropped it off but I have a suspicion the date was added to photo via a separate tool.

Can anyone advise on how to proceed? Is this a fairly standard procedure that does happen?