Victim of a Vacation Rental Scam, how should I get the refund?

Upvote:1

Were you expecting a hotel? The first address given is either the hairdressers or one of the flat(s) above it. The second address is The Reform Club (the kind of exclusive place where James Bond might play baccarat while enjoying a nice martini).

Also all UK mobile numbers start with 07, like all the numbers you mention above.

I definitely think it is a scam. Take this up as a dispute with booking.com and your credit card company. Follow up if they don't reply.

Upvote:2

If you paid paid by credit card, this is relatively easy: Dispute the payment with your bank.

Some banks have this built into their app or online banking, with others you need to write them to dispute the charge. You may have to give a brief explanation on why you're disputing the payment, but you don't have to submit any documentation.

The way these things work the bank will "charge back" the money into your account, and if the merchant wants it back they will have to submit proof that the transaction was actually valid. Which is very unlikely in this case, if they scammed more than just you the account will already be under investigation.

Some banks require you to make a report to the police, though, if criminal activity is involved.

If you paid directly to booking.com, you may ask them to revert the transaction; but if they don't react quickly still dispute the payment.

Don't delay too long, as has been noted in the other answer, there's limited time to charge back your money.

Under no circumstances make payments to people that you don't know outside a trusted marketplace.

Scammers will usually try to lure you away from mechanisms that protect you. They'll ask you to pay by bank transfer or Western Union, because those can't be reversed[1].

There's a dirty little secret to sites like booking.com: They will sometimes hand over all your credit card details to the hotel If the hotel "loses" that data, people can use it to make random payments. If you suspect this has happened, block you credit card and have it replaced.

[1] Even if the police find the owner of the bank account it'll be some poor sod who thought that "earning 2000 bucks a week with no risk" was for real. Those will wire the money via Western Union to a foreign country, and you'll never see it again.

Upvote:6

If one thing I have learned is that when you shop online, you can always ask for a refund, it will take time, but if you made the payment and it was also a scam, you can appeal for a refund. Contact your bank and let them handle the situation.

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