The founder of Villa Plus has helped close down two fake holiday villa sites and has warned the public to be wary.
Nick Cooper, founder and co-owner of Villa Plus, contacted police after discovering properties were being advertised without owners’ knowledge or consent.
He warns there has been a big rise in the number of fake sites since last summer and said it can take months for web hosting companies to close them down.
Cooper said: "Scam websites are promoting villa rentals, where there is seemingly no intention of providing any service other than to steal customers’ money, and more must be done by those responsible for hosting the sites to shut them down.
"They are operating illegally, and it seems, with impunity. Our solicitors have attempted to get the host of the sites in question to take action but they have unfortunately refused to do so in the absence of a court order."
He described the scams as ‘very sophisticated’, typically involving websites with search results showing plenty of peak season availability and professional photographs of villas copied from genuine websites.
A police source said two websites, luxuryrentalsvilla.com and cycladesrentals.com, were being shut down in response to an alleged fraud, according to the Evening Standard.
The source said: "We are using the tools available to protect other holidaymakers from falling prey to the same scam websites. Any prosecution of the website owners will be a longer job to prepare."
Last year, fake sites conned hundreds of people and a police report said holidaymakers lost £11.5 million in 2015 in booking scams.
