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Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others

Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others

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Started by Admin in Austria - 7 Replies

J2Ski

Admin posted Nov-2012

First saw coverage of this over on Snowheads, but it seems there is a scumbag taking bookings for chalets that don't exist.

It also appears that "he" is advertising other properties, including in the Canary Islands and elsewhere.

clairepow on Holiday Watchdog wrote:
Chalet scam in St Anton Austria "Owner" Carlos BO Marin

Postby clairepow on Wed Nov 07, 2012 17:19 pm
I found a chalet for 12 on Chalet Pro website in St Anton, Austria which looked perfect and emailed the owner through their site for details & prices. After a good few days of lots of research ( I have been booking ski holidays for over 20 years!) I decided that the Chalet & owner were legitimate. He even gave me details of several other properties he was renting in Spain, Gran Canaria & St Martin, all with very professional web adverts. We sent our money by bank transfer after receiving full rental documents & invoicing. Email communication throughout was good until he had our money.
The next email I received was extremely aggressive stating that as I was asking so many questions about him & the property he did not trust me & was cancelling our agreement & returning our money. I did not want to give him our bank details so requested my bank to reclaim the monies from his bank in Spain.
I have heard nothing from him since this day, despite several emails, unfortunately I never had a contact phone number as he stated he was travelling a lot to manage his properties, something which now, in hind sight, should have sounded alarm bells for me!!
The chalet was advertised as Anton Chalet but his email address was Chalet Marin (his name).


For the latest, see this thread on Holiday Watchdog
The Admin Man

Jocrad74
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012

Seen this on Snowheads earlier today, to say the people who have lost money have been well and truly done over would be an understatement.
Up there for thinking, down there for skiing...

AllyG
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012

Something very slightly similar to this happened to me once. We tried to buy milk quota from a guy who'd sold it the same day to the government, and he was an undischarged bankrupt farming under a false name. I paid him for it but luckily the Official Receiver had caught up with him and he told the bank to freeze the account. So eventually we got our money back.

I should think there's a chance the victims of this chalet scam might get their money back if the Spanish bank also freezes the account until the fraud investigation is complete.

And I would also like to reassure people that the chalet I chose for our 2013 group holiday in Tignes Les Brevieres does really exist :D
I've been to see it, and a very good friend of mine has stayed in it.
But it shows how careful we will have to be when picking somewhere for the 2014 group holiday.

So - all my sympathy to those who have been 'done' by this guy, and I hope they get their money back, eventually, and manage to buy another holiday.

Lilywhite
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012

It sounds like ClarePow did her research too, shows how easy it is to fall into these traps.

Snapzzz
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012

Slight wibble here, i do have sympathy for those involved, but am i alone in thinking 'what kind of fool sends £1000's by bank transfer'.

There are much safer ways to send money these days and for those who demand bank transfers - well i would run a mile.
Skied: Arinsal, La Plagne, Alpe D'huez, Flaine, Les Arcs, Morzine, Les Gets, Avoriaz, Sauze, Courchevel, Val Thorens

Ian Wickham
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012

Snapzzz wrote:Slight wibble here, i do have sympathy for those involved, but am i alone in thinking 'what kind of fool sends £1000's by bank transfer'.

There are much safer ways to send money these days and for those who demand bank transfers - well i would run a mile.


Stay on ya guard snappzy, it is the first scam I have heard about in the alps but there have been similar scams with summer holidays where people turn up to a villa and bang no villa.
We all think we are above being scammed including me but there are some clever unscrupulous people out there. :evil:
www  http://www.caveholidaysandalucia.co.uk

Brooksy
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012



Yes had it here in Lanzarote people turning up at villas & apartments & finding they were privately owned & now stuck here without the accommodation they paid for. :(

Tony_H
reply to 'Beware - Chalet Scammer - St.Anton - maybe others' posted Nov-2012

Snapzzz wrote:Slight wibble here, i do have sympathy for those involved, but am i alone in thinking 'what kind of fool sends £1000's by bank transfer'.

There are much safer ways to send money these days and for those who demand bank transfers - well i would run a mile.


I personally prefer to deal with funds online rather than mess about with cheques or get charged to make chaps payments.

Only to people I know exist, of course.

I'm just about to book with the official tourist website of a certain French ski resort and they've offered a couple of alternative ways to pay but I'll be making an online payment as its so much easier.
www  New and improved me

Topic last updated on 17-November-2012 at 09:00