British police arrest two over web scams

21 Aug 2006

British police arrested a man and woman in London on Saturday as part of a wide-ranging investigation into holiday Web site fraud that has left nearly 3,000 people out of pocket.

The woman in her thirties, and the man in his 60s, were detained at separate addresses in London and are being questioned by fraud squad officers, the Metropolitan Police said.

The fake websites; sunmedresorts.com, unbeatableholidays.com, holidaydaysforunder200pounds.com, holidayrez.com and holidayez.com were all used in the con.

The fraud worked by enticing people to buy non-existent holidays and then disappearing with the cash.

The Association of British Travel Agents has warned people to be careful about buying trips online. The organisation advises people to check its own website or that of other affiliated organisations like Air Travel Organisers' Licensing to make sure any holiday firm is bona fide.

The Metropolitan Police, the Fraud Squad and the Office of Fair Trading are all investigating the scam which is thought to have netted hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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Comments

Hello, yes I also got scammed to the tune of £690. I booked a holiday in June going to Rhodes in September, they sent letters as well as legitimate looking insurance documents, it was all a scam. Have a look on holidaywatchdog.com as the comments and reports on there are unbelieveable. Two people have been arrested and charged, I believe they are due in court in November. We are indeed also extremely angry but don't let this eat you up, complete the form on the metpolice.com website and get your crime number, if you paid by credit card you should be able to get this back from you bank. Good luck.