Cyprus villas scam probed by British police

by Nathan Morley

BRITISH POLICE are set to investigate a villa scam that robbed hundreds of Britons of their dream holidays in Cyprus and Spain over the summer.

The fraud, which spanned several tourist hotspots, included scamming up to 100 British families into renting a non-existent luxury apartment in Ayia Napa.

Many of the victims were forced to cancel their summer holidays or book again.

Thames Valley Police spokesman David Staines told the Cyprus Mail that officers will lead the investigation in the UK.

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The story was highlighted by the Cyprus Mail after desperate pleas for help from victims and was later picked up by the BBC and The Times newspaper .

The full extent of the fraud is still unravelling, but it’s known that the simple internet con netted over €50,000 just for the fake Cyprus apartment, with some estimating the overall figure to be closer to €1,000,000.

The scam kicked off when the popular online rental site Holiday Lettings was taken in by a fraudster advertising a bogus seaside apartment for rent and was quickly flooded with bookings.

The advert boasted a luxurious spacious villa, with swimming pool, fully fitted kitchen, air conditioning and fantastic view of Ayia Napa.

But an investigation by the Cyprus Mail revealed that the non-existent apartment’s location was large empty expanse of dusty wasteland scattered with old oil drums and cardboard boxes.

So far it is known that nearly 100 Britons went on to make bookings, with most accounts reporting customers coughing up between £850 and £2,300 for holidays scheduled between May and October this year.

The scammers took deposits and full payments from unsuspecting customers using online checkout systems such as PayPal.

Alarm bells began ringing back in June when several families, who had paid in full for the ‘apartment’ could not contact the vendor and became suspicious that they had been fleeced.

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