Holiday home scams on the rise

Tourists are falling foul of increasingly sophisticated holiday property scams, a travel chief has warned.

Visitors to the UK should be particularly careful about bogus holiday accommodation in London, up to and during the Olympics, said Laurence Hicks, director of holiday rentals company CLC Leisure.

He went on: “We are hearing a lot of nightmare stories about unsuspecting holidaymakers who have booked rental accommodation, paid their airfare and arrived at the address, only to find that it is occupied by the owner and has never been available for rent.

“This type of scam has been around for a while but is now becoming much more sophisticated.

“At one time there was simply no holiday. Now fraudsters are producing very stylish ads and websites featuring photos of real, very attractive properties in desirable locations.”