Fake holiday villas and cottages can easily turn a dream into a nightmare,as two groups booking through HomeAway found outAre you planning to book a villa or cottage this summer? Two groups that booked a property through HomeAway, sister company to Owners Direct, and have lost thousands of pounds to fraudsters in a case that exposes the grave risks holidaymakers are exposed to when using these celebrated websites.
The victims,who contacted Money independently this week, had both used HomeAway.co.uk, or which claims to be "the UK's number one holiday rentals site" and also operates OwnersDirect.co.uk. But both were defrauded out of more than £2000,one as the victim of an entirely fictitious property listing, the other because a lega property listing was hijacked and emails intercepted.
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Source: theguardian.com