Tenerife Holiday Scammers Arrested
The Spanish Civil Guard on the resort island of Tenerife, have arrested two people and are investigating another four for scamming holidaymakers with fake hotel and luxury villa listings.
The Spanish authorities launched an investigation after complaints were received from people that had arrived on the island for holidays and found that their villas and hotel accommodation either did not exist or there was no record of any booking.
In a press release, the Civil Guard said that they received several complaints from victims who explained how they had been offered accommodation in luxury hotels and villas, located mainly in the Costa Adeje area of Tenerife, at prices much lower than those offered by the hotels themselves or different official websites offering these properties.
When they saw the offers online, the conversation for the reservation was all made via Whatsapp with the supposed manager of the travel agency, who indicated that in order to make the reservation they had to pay the entire amount through Bizum, to take advantage of the promotional price.
However, when the victims arrived at the hotel complex or the villa, they then found out that they were the victims of a scam as they didn’t any reservation in their name at the places in question.
Both the main leader of the gang, and the rest of the members working with him, are attributed with 25 crimes of fraud to the value of 15,000 euros.
The police investigation continues as they believe there are many more victims who have not reported it.