Majorca holiday scam warning to Brits as family pay £6k to rent villa only for owner to have no idea his villa was on rental site
BRITS are being warned to watch out for fake holiday rental scams after a Norwegian family paid €6,730 upfront to rent a villa in Majorca, only to turn up and realise the whole thing was a scam.
The family of five signed a contract with a tourist rental company based in Ibiza to stay from July 7 to 21 in the town of Alcúdia.
But when they arrived at the property, they were met by the owner of the villa who had no idea that his home had been rented out.
The family were left with no where to stay and have since reported the alleged real estate scam to the Civil Guard of Port de Pollença, the reported.
Jordi Cerdó, president of the Holiday Rental Association, helped Bjornar alf Sorensen to make the report and helped rehouse the family in a tourist rental house in nearby Pollença.
The association is now investigating the online Ibiza rental agency and plans to take legal action.
Cerdó warned that these types of scams "unfortunately occur" and advised tourists to verify they are booking through an authorised rental agency before paying any reservation fees.
He noted a list of tourist holiday homes with licenses can be found on the Tourism Department website.
Cerdó lamented the "bad image" that this type of case gives to the tourism sector.
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British holidaymakers are being conned out of millions of pounds in a fresh blitz of scams by an organised criminal gang who use fake websites to advertise dream villas.
Crooks steal photos from genuine rental websites showing luxury villas across Spain and advertise them at bargain prices to lure in unsuspecting Brits.
In April, Angus Kennedy, 54, told the Sun Online how he lost more than £2,600 on a trip to Majorca after being conned over the Easter holidays.
Angus said his wife Sophie, 43, booked the stunning seven-bed villa unknowingly using fake website dreamvillasspain.com.
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