The Civil Guard has detected an increase in scams in holiday rental offers. The armed institution has communicated that scammers are using different social networks, mostly TikTok, to offer villas and houses with prices below market.
The way these scammers operate is by offering attractive ads with stolen photographs on real estate portals. Upon receiving rental requests, they pressure the victim to tell them that there are "many interested parties" and that they need to present "an immediate deposit".
For this, it is requested that that deposit or the total cost of the property be paid by Bizum or bank transfer. Finally, once the money has been deposited, the advertiser blocks the victim, ignores their messages and leaves them without a reservation or money.
Tips to avoid frauds
The Civil Guard suggests "distrust bargains", given "excessively low" prices it is probable that they are frauds. At the same time, it states that they request documentation that proves ownership or search for the name of the accommodation in other sources, "all this to check if it really exists and if the contact details match".
Furthermore, it advises seeking opinions from other users and highlighting that if there are no comments or they are very recent profiles, they should be taken as warning signs.
The Benemérita adds that official platforms be used:, whenever possible, and the reservation be made through specialized portals that offer protected payment systems and cancellation insurance. At the same time, it indicates that off-platform payments be avoided.
What to do if you have been a victim?
In case of having made a payment and suspecting a scam, citizens are urged to immediately contact their banking institution to try to stop the operation Gather all evidence, such as screenshots of the advertisement, conversations held with the reported individuals through messaging applications or email and payment receipts that demonstrate the economic damage.
Report by going to the police stations closest to your home to file the corresponding report with all the collected documentation.
Prevention is our best tool against online scams, do not let an offer too “good” to be true, ruin your vacation.
The Civil Guard continues investigating these cases and works to identify those responsible for these scams. Anyone who has been a victim of this type of fraud is requested to file a formal complaint at the nearest Civil Guard police station or post.