Holiday Scam - warning! (Holiday Lettings/Pay Pal)

Hi all,

I have lost £980 due to this fraud so I have posted the article from the Cyprus mail which explains it well. If anyone has and advice for me and the many others affected that would be great.

Pay Pal say: out with 45 days, not our problem
Holiday Lettings: we just advertise, not our problem although they surely have some duty to make sure the apartments at least exists??

Calum


Cyprus Mail 15th June :

Tourists fleeced in Cyprus apartment fraud

Scam could have netted €50,000

By Nathan Morley

IT’S BEEN revealed that upto 100 British families have been unwittingly
duped into renting a non-existent luxury apartment in Ayia Napa – leaving
many forced to cancel their summer holidays.

The full extent of the fraud is still unravelling, but it’s thought that a
simple internet con could have netted over €50,000 by taking deposits and
full payments from unsuspecting customers.

The fraud was perpetrated after a bogus seaside apartment was advertised for
rent on a well-known British lettings website and was quickly flooded with
bookings.

However, alarm bells began ringing when several families, who had paid in
full for the ‘apartment’ on the popular Holiday Lettings website, could not
contact the vendor and became suspicious.

“It was advertised at a fairly reasonable price, the dates suited us and I
paid the full amount to the apartment owner. It was at the very last minute
I got worried,” one victim of the con told the Cyprus Mail.

Within a week, internet message boards were flooded with similar stories
with complaints centered on one man – Samir Hassim, who took thousands of
pounds in bookings via Paypal.

Most accounts report Hassim lured customers to cough up between £850 and
£2,300 for holidays scheduled between May and October this year.

His advert on holidaylettings.co.uk boasted a luxurious spacious villa, with
swimming pool, fully fitted kitchen, air conditioners and fantastic view of
Ayia Napa.

“Our money was sent to Mr. Samir Hassim via Paypal, he has not made any
contact with us since, many people have been left with no alternative but to
try and find other means of accommodation and to pay again,” another
customer told the Mail.

Last night Holiday Lettings media officer Kate Stinchcombe confirmed that at
least five separate police investigations had been launched in the UK into
Hassim’s Cyprus scam.

“We took Samir Hassim’s adverts offline in April due to concerns about our
ability to contact him and therefore the same becoming a problem for
holidaymakers using our site.
We have since advised everyone who sent an enquiry to him through our site
of this,” she told the Cyprus Mail.

“At the point of allowing him to advertise with us we carried out numerous
checks in order to verify as much as possible his legitimacy. We had no
reason to believe his behaviour to be fraudulent at that time,” she added.

Despite attempts to contact Hassim by the Cyprus Mail, he remains elusive;
having disconnected his British landline number and only a generic answer
phone message remained on his mobile.

As for the apartment itself, all that can be found at the advertised
location was large empty expanse of dusty wasteland scattered with old oil
drums and cardboard boxes.

“This road exists, you are standing on it, but the apartments I don’t know,”
one bemused local told the Cyprus Mail, even local taxi drivers, who know
every inch of Ayia Napa were left scratching their heads.

Paypal, a company that lets customers send money to anyone with email,
expressed gave concern at the situation last night and told the Cyprus Mail
they would be urgently looking into the claims.

Local police told the Cyprus Mail they no immediate comment, but said they
would look into the matter if an official complaint was made, but it is
unclear if Hassim has ever actually been to the island.

The UK's trading regulator has issued warnings about online scams in the
past and advised caution when booking holidays through private vendors.

“Be careful, double check on places like Google and if you are caught by
fraudsters report it to the European Consumer centre or Consumer Direct in
the UK,” a statement said.

Tens of millions of British internet users have been targeted by scams in
the past year, with online fraud is at its highest level ever.
«1

Comments

  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    Might also be helpful if you put up the address,or telephone numbers, for google
  • Calum
    Calum Posts: 51 Forumite
    Thanks for the replys.

    The address is:

    (Any Flat Numberr) OCTOVRIOU 2, LIMANAKI HARBOUR, AYIA NAPA, CYPRUS, and CY 5341

    Calum
  • holiday lettings

    We also booked a holiday from this guy Samir Hassim through the holiday lettings website. Holidays lettings assured us that they carry out numerous checks in order to verify as much as possible that this was legitimate however one phone call to the Cyprus Tourist Organisation and they were able to check out the address and advise me that the apartment block does not exist. So doesn't exactly sound like holiday lettings carried out numerous checks. If they did, they obviously missed a very obvious check!!!! Holiday lettings advised us that they have not had a scam like this in 10 yrs however in the Irish Sunday Independent paper published on 28th June 09 it advised of another scam. A lady booked a holiday through holiday lettings co uk where she found a Villa in Javea on the Costa Blanca. The woman emailed the property morairaway.com which was advertised on holiday lettings website. Last Monday they received an email from holiday lettings advising them that morairaway.com was an elaborate fraud which had taken holiday bookings and thousands of euros from hundreds of people throughout Europe.
  • Stabilo
    Stabilo Posts: 452 Forumite
    I was contacted by BBC Radio 4 about this yesterday and it turns out they are broadcasting an article on this scam this Friday.

    Check out my signature if you want to avoid the scam.
    Before you buy Google Nest or British Gas Hive check out ESPproMon the Android and iOS Smartphone app that helps you build the same system from just £30.
  • gnaril
    gnaril Posts: 278 Forumite
    Maybe its just me but why on earth would you pay for a holiday using Paypal.

    Sounds suspect from the get go.

    Hope people affected are able to claim their cash back.
  • Atermis
    Atermis Posts: 133 Forumite
    High five to the scammer i say for owning and boning alot of people who should of known better! :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:beer:
  • Stabilo
    Stabilo Posts: 452 Forumite
    BBC Radio 4 have rescheduled to Monday. Their emails states the broadcast will be:

    Between 12 noon and 1pm (you can also listen on the You and Yours website later that afternoon - the audio will be up for seven days).
    Before you buy Google Nest or British Gas Hive check out ESPproMon the Android and iOS Smartphone app that helps you build the same system from just £30.
  • hollydays
    hollydays Posts: 19,812
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Forumite
    edited 2 July 2009 at 1:30PM
    Atermis wrote: »
    High five to the scammer i say for owning and boning alot of people who should of known better! :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:beer:


    engage brain before opening gob

    you and yours

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lff6s
  • Stabilo
    Stabilo Posts: 452 Forumite
    I believe the BBC iPlayer feed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lff6s/You_and_Yours_06_07_2009/ is available online for the next 90 years!

    Whereas the Real Audio feed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/ram/2009_27_mon_04.ram is available for about a week.
    Before you buy Google Nest or British Gas Hive check out ESPproMon the Android and iOS Smartphone app that helps you build the same system from just £30.
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