A mother cautions about a vacation scam following her abrupt cancellation of her trip just hours before the flight.

A mother with three children was forced to cancel their planned vacation to Majorca at the last minute after discovering that they had been swindled out of over £4,000. One of her children was so upset by the news that they didn’t talk for a whole day. The mother is now warning others to be careful because this type of fraud can strike anyone.

Emma Last, age 48, is a specialist in mental health and promoting good well-being. She resides in Chorley, Lancashire with her husband Zak, an artist who is 51 years old. The couple had plans to travel to Majorca in August 2023 for an eight-night family vacation, having reserved a larger villa that could comfortably accommodate Emma’s parents and their three children: Scarlette and Henri (17 years old) and Xander (14 years old).

Initially, she discovered the property on Airbnb. However, she was then redirected to WhatsApp and given a link by “Travel Villas”. This link purported to be a “Booking.com portal” for processing the payment at a later time.

Emma’s mom, Julia, who is 74 years old, used this link to pay £4,120 for the villa. Emma separately paid £1,722.98 for the flights through Ryanair. However, just a few hours before their scheduled departure on August 7th, they realized they had fallen victim to a scam.

After contacting the company, the family discovered that the “Travel Villas” listing had actually been copied from a different website called Oliver’s Travels. They were informed that the villa was already booked, and Emma realized her error.

According to Emma from PA Real Life, we broke the news to the kids that we wouldn’t be going, which was terrible since they had already packed their suitcases and were filled with anticipation.

“The word to describe the children was ‘devastated’ – one of them did not speak for a full day.”

Emma, who established the corporate mental health business Progressive Minds, struggled for several months in an attempt to retrieve their funds for the villa. While they ultimately succeeded, they have not yet been able to recover the money spent on flights since Ryanair was not responsible for the issue.

Emma’s family had been budgeting for a trip for several months, and although she felt ashamed at first for being scammed, she now wants to use tips from the cyber security company Norton to assist others in avoiding becoming victims of fraud.

Emma stated that there is not a lot of support available and that people may feel embarrassed when they are caught in a situation like this. She believes it is a topic that people do not want to discuss, but it can happen to anyone.

In the past, I have always been responsible for arranging my own travel and have never encountered any issues. I always take the time to research and make informed decisions. However, I think it’s important to acknowledge our fallibility as human beings and consider utilizing technology to safeguard ourselves.

In addition, considering one’s financial security, I believe there is a significant lack of emphasis on financial literacy, and as individuals, we should not feel ashamed to address this issue.

Emma started looking at holiday options on Airbnb in July 2023, specifically family villas in Ibiza or Majorca to accommodate her parents and her three children.

The family was eagerly anticipating another summer vacation together after saving up from their last trip to Spain. They found three suitable properties in Majorca on Airbnb.

Emma and her family thoroughly researched the villas using Google Earth before booking. They reviewed all the information provided, including the claim that she could book the property as a Genius customer on Booking.com.

After selecting an Airbnb listing, a notification appeared requesting that the dates be confirmed through WhatsApp. Emma followed the instructions and sent a message to the specified number to check for availability.

Emma got a reply from “Lyda from Travel Villas” which included a link, verifying the availability of the property for the specified dates of August 7 to August 15, 2023. The price for renting the property per night was discounted to 600 Euros (£511).

PA Real Life received the following message: “Please provide us with your email address so that we may send you a PDF brochure of the villa including information on photos, services, location, and booking terms.”

Following some discussion, Emma was notified that she had been approved to make a booking and her reservation would be confirmed immediately upon payment.

The WhatsApp message stated that there is a free cancellation policy if done within 24 hours before check-in, and a full refund will be provided.

She was directed to a Booking.com website where she was given a 10% discount for being a member of their loyalty program, Genius. This made her feel more confident that her booking for the villa was trustworthy.

Julia, Emma’s mother, paid £4,120 on July 30 and Emma used Ryanair to purchase flights for a total of £1,722.98 for her seven guests.

Afterwards, she received an email confirming her booking from “Puerto Soller Villa” and a WhatsApp message stating, “The payment has been taken care of and everything is in order.”

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The message stated that check-in is available between 10am and 7pm, and after 7pm you can enter using a key pass code. If you need any additional services such as renting a car, boat, or catering, we are happy to assist you without any difficulties.

Thank you for choosing to stay with us. We are excited to have you as our guest.

After sending multiple messages on WhatsApp about their flights and requesting details about the check-in procedure, Emma grew concerned when she received no replies through either texts or calls in the following days.

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Emma was considering taking the risk and getting on the flights, assuming they could attempt to reserve a hotel upon arrival if they were unable to access the villa. However, her plans changed when she received a troubling phone call from her mother.

It was discovered that scammers had replicated data and images from Oliver’s Travels onto a fraudulent site named “Travel Villas”. This deceitful activity involved impersonating letting agents and was revealed to be a scam.

Emma expressed that she felt incompetent and overwhelmed in her efforts to retrieve the money. She also shared that she was heartbroken for her family, including her husband and children.

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“I diligently save and make careful plans. As a small business proprietor, I put in a great deal of effort. I constantly strive to give back to others and the majority of people in my circle are wonderful individuals.”

“It is disheartening to know that there are individuals like that in this world.”

According to Emma, she received advice from Barclays that she could file an insurance claim for the flights that she did not use. This was because using her Barclaycard to book provided her with coverage and gave her a sense of security.

She mentioned that Barclays informed her she was not able to transfer the flights at the moment. However, upon further inquiry, she was informed that the bank could not take her claim into consideration.

The given explanation was that her situation does not fall under any of the listed incidents for which her policy would offer coverage.

Emma later expressed her dissatisfaction regarding the guidance she received. In an email obtained by PA Real Life, Barclays acknowledged their mistake and apologized for giving her incorrect information. They offered £100 as compensation for the ensuing distress and inconvenience.

Even though Emma and her mother were able to retrieve the £4,120 that was lost from the villa scam, she is still at a loss for the money spent on flights, amounting to over £1,700.

Although she initially felt foolish, angry, and disappointed in her “wrong decision,” Emma now wants to tell her story in order to prevent others from falling victim to scams.

She stated, “We conducted a certain level of investigation, but were there any lessons learned? Definitely.”

Do not engage with requests to leave the site and use WhatsApp or to make payments on a different site.

“Through personal effort, I have focused on improving my mental well-being and acquired various methods and resources to cope. However, I am most concerned about the well-being of others and the destructive effects it can have on them.”

PA Real Life reached out to Barclays for a statement, but no response had been received at the time of publication.

A representative from Airbnb stated that the listing was promptly removed from the platform after being brought to our attention in July. We are currently in contact with the customer to provide assistance.

We strongly advise users to remain on Airbnb to utilize its messaging system, make reservations, and make payments, as this will ensure they are covered by our policies and procedures, as well as 24/7 support, including AirCover.

According to Norton, scam artists are becoming more creative in their tactics for swindling people. Their research reveals that the average person in Britain receives 10 scams per week via email, text, or phone.

Norton’s latest app, Norton Genie, utilizes AI technology to enable users to scan for potential scams by copying and pasting or uploading screenshots of text messages, social media posts, emails, or websites.

For more information, please visit: uk.norton.com/products/genie-scam-detector.

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