Accommodation scams still rife in uMhlanga
The Easter Holidays are around the corner, and authorities have urged local residents and tourists to remain cautious when responding to property and accommodation adverts online.
WITH the Easter holidays around the corner authorities are warning residents to remain wary of accommodation scams.
Every year during the December holidays matric pupils and family vacationers arrive in uMhlanga only to discover that they had paid thousands of Rands to a con artist.
In 2013, Peter Rose, chairman of Umhlanga Tourism, discovered that his own guesthouse had been used in one of these scams. The con man had simply stolen the details and photos of his guesthouse off another website and advertised it with his own alias.
According to Rose, the alleged fraudster had used the company name Gate-Way Vacation Home.
What particularly concerned Rose was the fact that the con artists are now using legitimate accommodation and properties in their scams, making it more difficult for tourists to discern the con from the real deal. In the past they would simply use fictitious accommodation.
He encouraged vacationers to stay clear of websites such as Gumtree and OLX. “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he added.
However, Estelle Nagel, the PR manager for Gumtree, insisted that they implemented various safety procedures to protect their users from fraudsters.
“Expert moderators are assigned to constantly check adverts, and we also rely on our user base to flag any suspicious ads – once flagged they are also examined by our moderators. We also work with the SAPS, and anyone found committing fraud on the site will be reported to the authorities Forensic investigators are also hired to randomly conduct checks,” she explained.
Additionally, con artists’ IP and email addresses are blocked from the site, she added.
Nagel also explained that their web site sees more than 22 million interactions on a monthly basis, and only a handful of these are actually fraudulent.
“We always urge our users to be extremely cautious, as these incidences do occur. But these are very limited,” she added.
Some warning signs include:
– Low resolution photos
– A refusal when you ask for additional photographs
– Different emails used in adverts featuring the same property or accommodation
– The seller pushes you to pay the deposit
– The seller is impatient and presses you to make any decisions
– The seller refuses to provide additional information
