SUMMER SCAMHairdresser turned up to holiday villa in Spain to find out she’d been scammed out of £2,300
But it wasn’t until she arrived at the four-bedroom villa in Majorca that she realised she’d been the victim of a scam and had lost more than €2,500 (£2,300).
The 50 year-old, who lives in Kidlington, Oxford had booked the accommodation via the HomeAway.co.uk website last December.
She had planned the holiday with her husband David, 64, son Daniel and wife Rebecca as well as their two young children - Graceon, two, and Hawley, four months.
They were also travelling with her elderly father Richard who is 78-years-old and later would be joined by her daughter and son-in-law.
At the end of August the family arrived in Majorca at the villa where they were greeted by the villa owner.
It was at this point they were told that the villa owners had not received their payment and that they owed the full €3,040 (£2,708).
Jayne said: “I thought there had to be a mistake. I got onto HomeAway and they were absolutely useless.
“They didn’t care. I spoke to my bank but they also couldn’t help.”
According to an investigation conducted by HomeAway.co.uk after The Sun Online contacted the holiday booking website, Jayne’s email to the villa owner had been intercepted by a scammer.
They had passed on details to a bank account that was not linked to the original listing.
At first Jayne had spoken to the owner through the holiday website’s booking system but the conversation soon moved to email to discuss the finer details.
In an email which looked like it was from the villa owners they offered the family a 15 per cent discount if they paid in full upfront.
Jayne made the payment via Transferwise for the full €2,584 (£2,300) in December.
She even got a reply confirming that the money had been received and discussing towels and bedding.
Over the next few months she spoke to the villa owner to arrange extra details, including whether her father could now join the trip.
The family made the decision to leave the villa and book another one on a credit card - at an additional €4,400 (£3,900) cost.
Jayne said: It was the worst holiday I’ve ever been on. It spoilt the whole trip.
It’s really horrible to think that you’ve been scammed.”
A spokesperson from HomeAway.co.uk said: “Fraud is a very rare occurrence on our websites.
“Every year, millions of holidaymakers worldwide successfully book their holiday rental properties with us without any problems.
“The case you are referring to is a very rare case of phishing where a criminal took over an owner’s account and communicated with the holidaymaker.
“While we inform owners, property managers and holidaymakers about the potential risk of account takeovers on our websites, increasingly sophisticated criminals are targeting online marketplaces across the board.”
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