Villa holidays

Avoiding holiday scams

When people are desperate for money they will do anything to fool people… This page will help you to identify when a scam may be taking place…

So you are looking on all the holiday villas websites, you see a property you like and you email them, they give you a prices… it seems OK, then they give you the bank details and hay presto your holiday is booked! then what… you turn up and the place doesn’t exist or the homeowner stops answering your calls and emails and you are left wondering what to do next!

my ways of helping to stay safe:

• using a registered company is a good way of avoiding home owners scams.
• Paying by visa or mastercardif a company has a visa or mastercard system in place then this is a very good sign. They will have needed to go through a long process to be approved by visa companies and wouldnt have been accepted without company documentation.
• Research the area and the property  Find out the name of the complex  (if there is one) and google it, see if it comes up and more than likely you will find some information on it. At least that way you know it exists. Its not the same for all projects but it doesn’t hurt trying.
• Avoid up front payments Most people / companies will ask for a deposit and then before your arrival (maybe 4 – 6 weeks) they will ask you to send across the deposit. Try not to pay everything upfront in one hit.

If in doubt… don’t book it!