First there was Elise who will not go to Ile de Ré with her family despite the 5600 euros paid. Then Pierre, who had booked the same island villa, on the same dates, and was relieved of the same amount. Finally, Raphaël who thought he had booked another pretty house near Biarritz and no longer even hopes to see his 5200 euros again.
In the space of two weeks, we directly collected three testimonies from people who fell into the trap of the same scam in the vacation rental! In reality, in France alone, they are probably a hundred times more numerous. "To date, I have gathered the files of 120 victims," says Johanna Chicheportiche. If we add up their losses, we reach half a million euros. But there are also all those who have not come forward. I estimate that they are between 400 and 500. ”
This 31-year-old independent administrative and legal assistant set out to bring together and coordinate, regardless of their number, all the victims of this extraordinary scam. "It was one of my clients who had reserved a villa at Cap Ferret for 4,800 euros who asked me to take steps for her with Abritel," explains Johanna. The platform sent us a dismissal. "
But the young Niçoise is pugnacious. She continues her research and discovers on forums that her client is not the first victim. "There were at least twenty of them and to show that Abritel had not withdrawn the reported announcements, they needed the evidence held by the others. I proposed to them to take over, to gather the elements, to assemble the files. "
Impeccable presentation
And Johanna is not doing it in half measures. As she works during the day, the legal assistant devotes to this new mission her sunrises, her evenings, sometimes her weekends. Without letting go for a year. "I can't stand injustice," justifies the young woman, in her thin voice. We cannot let people continue to be defrauded. She spends up to six hours on certain days, with an average of two hours daily, tracking false announcements, making screenshots, ordering bailiffs and making reports to Homeaway. By force, she spots the false advertisements at first glance.
Because each time, the method of the crooks is the same. They are always beautiful and large villas or chalets, with careful decoration and high-end services, in popular resorts: Ile de Ré, Le Lavandou, Arcachon, Cap Ferret, Hossegor, Tignes ... Although high , the asking price is around 15% below the market.
Without any spelling error, with very many photos, placed in the first search results, the ad inspires confidence. The leased goods actually exist. Inserted in the suite of photos, a text warns: “Important. Please do not book without contacting me. To check availability, send me an email. ”
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Affable and responsive, the pseudo-owner - who is most often called "Henri Lavaure", "Ludovic Gaylar", "Jérôme Aubin", "Claire Dourdin" or "Virginie Moulin" (again the surnames of real people) - replies that the house is available and has holidaymakers fill out a short questionnaire: name, address, date of arrival, departure, number of adults, children. He then announces that he will have the reservation made by Abritel. The next day, the email in the colors of the famous platform arrives and invites to pay within 24 hours. The victims believe they are paying for their vacation through the site. It is not so. Their money is sent by transfer to an account sometimes English, Irish, Austrian or Spanish.
The site ensures to carry out regular checks
Abritel will not reimburse. "On each booking page, it is clearly indicated that you must book and pay online via our system in order to benefit from our guarantee and to be fully reimbursed or relocated in the event of a problem," explains the vacation rental website. It is characteristic of a transactional platform that the transaction takes place on the platform. "
The website ensures regular checks. "We have automatic technical means in place at all of our group's sites to carry out checks on new or existing announcements on the platform and on teams in all the countries where we operate which represent several dozen specialists," says Abritel. The number of problematic ads on the site remains extremely low, but a single false advertisement can cause several victims while it is identified. "
Explanations that do not suit Johanna Chicheportiche and the victims she has gathered. The group has just contacted a lawyer to initiate mass action. And not just any! Me Jonathan Bellaiche is known for having already folded several digital platforms: Uber Pop, Heetch, Uber and Airbnb. "I will analyze the general conditions of use of Abritel as well as compliance with the applicable regulations in terms of furnished accommodation for tourism in order to initiate legal proceedings", announces Me Bellaiche, who refuses to reveal his game further but confirms: “Mass action is being organized. "
"The money is gone, we will never see it again"
He says he is "thoughtful, even suspicious. However, Raphaël Sotta was also the victim of a false advertisement for the Abritel vacation rental on June 15. The crooks have a well-honed technique for building holidaymakers' confidence, step by step, before plucking them. "After confinement, we were looking to rent a house on the Atlantic coast," recalls Raphaël, who lives in Aix-en-Provence. We looked for several days on the Internet and we found on Abritel this advertisement for a house in Bidard, near Biarritz, with a swimming pool and four or five bedrooms which could accommodate family and friends. "
In accordance with the instructions in the announcement, Raphaël sends an email to check the availability of the premises. After a few courteous exchanges and the sending of a questionnaire, the owner, a certain “Claire Dourdin”, announces that she validates the reservation by Abritel, which will claim the payment.
Doubts as soon as payment is made
Scrupulous, Raphaël nevertheless checks the address of the villa in a geolocated search engine. "It existed well. We were all excited and we paid 5200 euros for the first two weeks of August, ”recalls the engineer today with remorse. As claimed in the e-mail in (false) colors of Abritel, it proceeds to the bank transfer to an Italian account in the name of HA Limited. "I said to myself, that means HomeAway, the group is English, everything is fine. "
But doubts arise almost immediately after payment is made. "There was no house and suddenly it appeared, just perfect! It was too good, then realized the 35-year-old consulting engineer. We did research and discovered that Claire Dourdin had died. When we got back in touch, no more answers. Raphael immediately orders the cancellation of the transfer. But the bank fails. "The money is gone, we will never see it again", fears, fatalist, the father of the family, who filed a complaint. Since then, he has found the famous Bidart villa, rented on a luxury rental site at 700 euros per night. Against 500 euros in the false advertisement.
