I am writing this because I wanted to make you all aware of something that a friend of mine has gone through recently. He booked what he thought was a luxury villa online, and was looking forward to his holiday. However, when he got there, he discovered that the villa didn't exist, and the phone number that he had been talking to the "owner" on was now disconnected. Because he had sent cash (what an idiot) he had no comeback, as no kind of contract had been signed or anything like that. He just had to wave goodbye to his hard earned money, which must have been incredibly frustrating for him. PLEASE book your holidays through official websites, or pay by credit card so you've at least got some kind of comeback if things should go wrong! Have you ever been involved in something like this in the past?
Thank you for bringing this subject up again. I already submitted a few posts about my own travel scam experiences a while ago. I nearly got sucked into a scam like this, not just once but twice! The first time was when I thought it would be a good idea to book an apartment for a couple of days via airbnb, a well-known site with excellent reputation. And the second time was with an alleged house rental agency. In both cases the scammers were really clever and convincing, but I felt there was something "odd" and backed out in the last moment, and I was right. I ended up reporting the scams. I feel really sorry for your friend. It can happen so quickly.
This should act as lesson for those who pay for something without seeing it first. If you have to pay for or buy something on the net stick to reputable sites that guarantee a refund of your money if what you pay for isn't delivered or the quality isn't satisfactory. And before paying for something try to find out about what you're paying for. If Google can't find it or people talking about it [reviews of any kind], then probably you should try looking for a better alternative.
I am always warning my relatives about travel scams because they love traveling. Usually, you will find deals like these on online classifieds where people are free to post anything. Another venue for these scams is deal and voucher sites. There are so many fake deal sites nowadays because of the appeal of discounts. Our police and investigation bureau have cracked down on so many of these in the past few months alone. Always be careful, guys! Don't trust those sites that you only just heard recently.
