Every year, we read in the press in Romania, but also at an international level, that hundreds of people end up being stung with luxury accommodation at very low prices. Thus, the injured end up without money, but also without the much-dreamed-of vacation. It all starts with the rush for bargains, with the victims being attracted by ads with very low-priced accommodation in famous resorts, where normally the prices are much higher.
Once they are in the range of fraudsters, the victims are no longer attentive and do not give importance to other aspects regarding banking transactions, procedures, etc. In the hope that they have struck the blow, the injured persons comply with the demands of the scammers and thus remain with the money given and without accommodation.
The hunt for bargains…
The most recent spikes were given with luxury villas, which were "rented" at very low prices in luxury resorts. Dozens of tourists, who wanted dream vacations in Greece, Spain, Italy, Holland, France or Austria, fell into the net of Romanian scammers. They rented them luxury villas in famous resorts, at "extremely advantageous prices", at least at the ad level. In reality, people paid the rent into the quacks' accounts, and when they got to the accommodation they realized they had been swindled, conform newspapers.com (full story).
"...the injured person wanted to rent an apartment in Alicante, Spain and found an advantageous ad on the website www.fotocasa.es, at the price of 400 euros. Being interested in this building, he tried to contact the owner by phone. A few days later he was contacted via Whatsapp by the alleged owner who introduced himself as Rybicki, being directed to a link that appeared to be from AirBnb because it had applied the company's logo, through which it had to pay 1200 euros for rent and guarantee . Being an advantageous offer and convinced that it is a real offer and that the transaction will take place through the Fotocasa company, he transferred the amount of 1200 euros to the account indicated by the lessor. Although he paid, the victim was not contacted to hand over the keys", the indictment states, this being one of dozens of similar stories discovered by Romanian investigators.
In the same situation, tourists were attracted by "advantageous" offers in Mikonos (Greece), Tarragona (Spain), Barcelona (Spain), Solden (Austria), Sant Cugat del Vallès (Spain), Alicante (Spain), Milan (Italy). , Amsterdam (Netherlands), Munich (Germany), La Villa Calvi (France), Ibiza (Spain), etc.
When everything is too beautiful...
In the future, when you see ads with unbeatable accommodation prices, it might be a good idea to do a more thorough research to prevent being scammed. When everything is too beautiful, maybe then you should be more vigilant. Stop clicking on all kinds of links received from dubious people. If possible, don't pay in advance. If pressure is put on you to pay, then maybe it's best to back off and not pay. If the purported owner insists you pay to a specific account or through a dubious link, don't do it.
If you can't handle modern reservation systems or don't know how to do it, use the famous, reliable travel agencies and even if you pay more, you at least have the security of your stay. We know, there have been cases when travel agencies also went bankrupt, went bankrupt, etc., but even so, they remain the safest in such situations.
Be vigilant when it comes to your money!