THE Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) warned the public yesterday to beware of websites offering holiday villas on the island that do not actually exist, after a flurry of complaints from people who said they were scammed.
The CTO said it has received a worrying amount of complaints lately from locals and foreigners who claimed they had booked holiday villas and paid the deposit, only to arrive for their break and discover that the villa is non-existent.
When they tried to contact the agent, they realised the website was in fact a scam – the photos of the villa were fake and their money gone.
The sites are all the more alluring with the exceptionally attractive prices they offer.
The CTO is warning the public to be extra vigilant when making bookings over the internet, especially when the websites in question are foreign.
The Organisation is also keen to point out that there really isn’t much they can do to help out the victims, who file complaints to the CTO once they realise they have been duped and seek compensation.
CTO tourist officer Kyriacos Kyriacou said yesterday that the Organisation was virtually powerless to investigate complaints given the culprit websites would later disappear without a trace.
“There is a big problem and there isn’t much the CTO can do about it,” Kyriacou said. “All we can advise is for the public to seek information on the villas they want to rent before paying any deposits, especially if the agents are from abroad.”
Kyriacou said the problem had taken on some worrying dimensions over the past couple of years with the increase in people using the internet to book their holidays.
And it wasn’t just locals being fooled. “We received a complaint from a Dutch man, who had entered a site of some Arabic name and made a booking at an apartment resort in Agia Napa, which in the end didn’t exist.
“He wanted his money back when he realised the site had closed down, but what could the CTO do?” said Kyriacou.
A UK family had also booked a holiday to Istanbul through a Cypriot website, which proved to be another scam.
Last year, the Cyprus Mail revealed that some 100 British families had been duped into renting non-existent luxury apartments in Ayia Napa, forcing many to cancel their summer holidays.
Such internet cons have been reported as potentially netting over €50,000 in deposits and full payments. The scam was revealed when several families – some of whom had pre-paid the fee – tried to contact the vendor with no luck.
The non-existent villa is the worst-case scenario, but there are other hidden dangers in booking over the web. For a start, the villa or hotel advertised could be completely different to the one someone is actually booking, or lacking licensing and not living up to the health and safety regulations.
“We have a few hundred villas that operate with CTO licensing,” Kyriacou explained. “Others don’t. Someone books a villa through a site and, when they get there, they see it doesn’t live up to the required standards. They want their money back, but the CTO can’t find the owners and, if there is no licensing, our hands are tied.”
He added: “We need to warn Cypriot consumers – because it is virtually impossible to warn all foreigners – that it would be in their best interests to make sure the business is licensed before they book a holiday. They can do so by contacting us, or by checking the list of licensed hotels on our website. We also have a booklet available at our offices, with all the licensed businesses in the tourism industry.”
The CTO official said a large number of complaints had also been received recently by consumers saying they had booked hotel rooms or apartments over the phone, only to turn up for their holidays and find their booking had been cancelled.
“The complainants said they made the reservations over the phone, without paying a deposit as the hotelier told them there was no need, and then turned up to find they were left without a room,” said Kyriacou. “With no evidence of the booking, there really isn’t much we can do about this either.”
He suggested consumers seek verification of their bookings and double check a few days before the actual holiday, so they are not left out in the cold.
Kyriacou also reminded the public to check prices before choosing to eat at restaurants, especially fish taverns.
“We receive many complaints over excessively high bills, mainly concerning fish taverns,” he said. “But it seems the consumers order their food without even checking the prices beforehand. And there are certain types of fish that can be very expensive or which are paid by the kilo, so consumers should always check beforehand.”
