The new type of holiday home owner scam
Recently there have been many known cases of scams in holiday rentals, people who pose as owners of holiday homes and when the guest arrives at the accommodation they turn out to be victims of a scam. But crime is not only balanced towards the side of the holiday home manager, in this case we present to you the recent modality of deception and extortion that false guests are applying.
As the police have stated in recent months, there have been cases of owners being extorted by the guests of their holiday home, who had occupied the property and demanded up to 14,000 euros to leave.
During the course of the investigation, the agents discovered that this was not an isolated case, but a plot. The group located holiday homes for short term rentals and contacted the owners posing as a family interested in spending a weekend or several days.
Once they occupied the property, they refused to leave or to pay any fees for the use of the property. They then threatened the owners in exchange for very large sums of money – 14,000 euros – telling them that, if they paid them, they would leave and their house would not be damaged.
In the presence of the homeowners, the gang members beat and smashed the furniture to let them know they meant business. However, even when they agreed to the extortion, the perpetrators would not leave. The gang managed to appropriate 62,000 euros from the victims.
The leader of the gang was the one who made contact with the owners and received the keys. She made a verbal contract with them. Later, when it was time to leave the property, she claimed that she had rented it for a long period of time. It was then the turn of her husband, one of the main perpetrators of the threats and extortions.
The usurped houses were constantly occupied by the members of the group who in turn gave them to other family members, ensuring that there were always people in the houses to avoid being evicted.They are charged with fraud, misappropriation, extortion, damage and membership of a criminal group. They have been handed over to the Juzgado de Instrucción number 2 in Villajoyosa, which has ordered the imprisonment of four of the main members of the gang.
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