Spain holiday warning shared as holidaymaker loses €5,000 on scam Mallorca villa
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Britons looking to rent a villa in Mallorca may dream of sun-drenched cocktails and poolside relaxation. Unfortunately, they may not even make it to Spain if they rented out their villas with the wrong people.
In the latest string of holiday scams on the island, two Britons were left with a massive hole in their pockets.
One Briton was planning a surprise birthday party for her husband and thought she’d rented a villa with Booking Villas Mallorca based out of Porreres.
However, after paying a hefty deposit of €1,900, the woman realised she’d been conned.
She had found the perfect villa with swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi.
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Instead of a fantastic birthday bash in Mallorca for her husband, the family was left with a big hole in their bank account and no plans.
The Briton paid the deposit to the company, but never got confirmation.
No contact from the company meant that she soon realised her unanswered emails and straight-to-voicemail calls weren’t a fluke.
Her bank was trying to reverse the payment but since she transferred the money, the scammers may already have withdrawn.
What should have been a fabulous holiday will now turn into the Briton having to claim against the Spanish bank which should have known it was a scam.
She also reported to Action Fraud.
Her husband’s holiday plans, however, will be on hold until they can get the money back.
Working overtime and saving for the special occasion amounted to nothing, and she now cannot afford another birthday bash.
Unfortunately, she was not the only victim of the fake company.
Another Briton was scammed out of €3,350.
The Scottish man paid for his villa in full before realising he’d been conned by Mallorca Villas.
He thankfully realised he’d been scammed before flying out to the island.
But this is small compensation with the Briton now out of €3,350 and nothing to show for it.
Spain’s Olive Press has reported at least 300 victims of scammers in Spain last month.
The amount of money swindled is staggering.
Holidaymakers were scammed out of €600,000 and the problem was not getting better.
Spain’s National Court has opened an investigation into fake rentals, after a couple of particularly bad years.
Express.co.uk contacted Mallorca Villas for comments.
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