With the onset of summer, demand for holiday destinations is increasing, and more people are using online services to rent cottages and holiday homes. Unfortunately, scammers are also actively exploiting this situation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs warned. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
Therefore, the police department urges citizens to be cautious of the increasing fraudulent activities on the internet. Particularly, fake offers for renting holiday homes have proliferated on social networks and various classified ad sites.
In most cases, fraudsters use the following method: they post fake advertisements for holiday homes on social networks or ad platforms; they tell interested individuals that the property is available and send attractive photos; to build trust, they use real addresses and beautiful images. However, such photos are often taken from the internet or belong to other properties.
They require an advance payment to book the holiday home; after the money is transferred, they start making excuses: they claim the car broke down, repairs are underway, or there are technical issues; later, communication is completely cut off, and the paid funds are not returned.
"Therefore, do not rush to make an advance payment and do not transfer money to unknown persons or suspicious accounts. Whenever possible, use official booking platforms and trusted agencies," the police said.
Additionally, it is necessary to verify the authenticity of the information and be careful with photos, as many scammers use images taken from the internet. Especially, do not trust overly cheap offers, the law enforcement officers advise.