As of: March 13, 2024, 3:00 p.m
By: Franziska Kaindl
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A family had to cancel their holiday in Mallorca shortly before departure because it turned out that the finca they had booked was a fake.
A family from Great Britain spent a year saving for their vacation in Mallorca.
Last July, the mother began her search for a family villa so that not only her husband and three children but also her parents would have space.
She even used Google Earth to check whether the villas actually existed.
Nevertheless, she ultimately fell for a bogus offer, as the PA news agency reported on the incident.
Fraudsters posed as the landlord of a Mallorca finca
The woman became aware of the finca through Airbnb.
The advertisement stated that the request for the desired booking details should be made via WhatsApp.
When she did so, she was informed that the accommodation was available for her selected period - for a reduced price of 600 euros per night.
More messages were exchanged until the woman was “approved for booking”.
Your reservation would be confirmed immediately “once payment is made,” it said.
In the end, the family didn’t end up going to Mallorca.
© Sergi Reboredo/Imago
To make the booking itself, the British woman was ultimately redirected to a portal that looked like
Booking.com
.
But as it later turned out, this was a fake.
After the family had paid 4,120 pounds, the equivalent of around 4,825 euros, for accommodation, the woman booked flights for seven people for the equivalent of around 2,000 euros.
She also received confirmation of the booking of the villa.
After booking, the mother became suspicious: When she asked for further information about checking in at the accommodation via WhatsApp, she no longer received any messages.
Shortly before the family was about to leave for the airport, they received a call from their mother, who had paid for the accommodation: she had discovered that the information and images of the booked villa had been copied from another, real website - and they had therefore booked them with fraudsters who acted as if they were renting them out.
“I felt so stupid,” said the British woman who fell for the offer.
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Cases of fraud involving false Booking.com pages are also known in Germany
The consumer advice center in Germany also warned about cases of fraud of this type at the beginning of the year.
Those affected reported that when they booked on
Booking.com
, they were simultaneously contacted on WhatsApp to verify their payment details.
They were also redirected to a deceptively real
Booking.com
page.
There is also a known case in which a woman was redirected by Airbnb to a fake Booking.com website to make her booking there.
The consumer advice center recommends only using the payment options within the booking platform.
If customers receive a message that the booking did not work, they should contact the booking platform's customer service or call the booked accommodation.
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In the case of the deceived family from Great Britain, the woman managed to get back almost 5,000 euros for accommodation.
However, she was stuck with the cost of the flights.
Their conclusion is: "If you are asked to leave the site and use WhatsApp, don't do it, and if you are asked to pay on another site, don't do it." Airbnb removed the false listing when it found out about the fraud case.