Holiday Scam Help

[Asvan]

Hi everyone.

Please be kind to me I know I have been very naive here.

In April this year I booked a trip of a lifetime for me and my family with a local travel agent. The package included flights transfers and hotels. The travel agent had been recommended to me by a friend who had travelled through them a few times before. I did my research and the travel agent had good online reviews etc. The travel agent told me that they were agents for ATOL holders.

I paid them 2 installments of 5k each via bank transfer in April and June. The money went to a business account. They sent me booking confirmation and an invoice and everything seemed legitimate.

Since then the travel agent has been in constant contact and answered all our questions etc.

I was due to fly out with my family this Saturday but I got a call from the agent last Tuesday to say that there had been an issue with our booking and our trip was cancelled. The reason he gave was that their UK based supplier had gone bankrupt and he can't give us a refund.

After that call he hasn't answered any of my calls and has blocked me.

Another family has got in contact with me and they lost 14k under similar circumstances with the same travel agent last year He point blank refused to pay them.

I did some fishing and there were no plane tickets or hotel reservations made in our names.

I am so gutted that our trip has been cancelled and now I stand to lose 10k. I have been saving up for this trip for nearly 3 years and I am just so angry at myself.

Please can anyone advise on what my next steps should be? Will the bank give me my money back? Do I have to report this to police? Are there any other agencies that I need to report this travel agent to? The whole situation has left me so anxious and I am so embarrassed that I have been a victim of something like this.

If I don't get my money back, what can I do to warn others about this scamming agent?

Not passive at all. I've never been through anything like this before so just want to make sure I take the correct steps so that. I don't end up losing more money.

OP, the police aren’t able t do anything if you camp outside of his office. It’s presumably a public highway and therefore you can’t be trespassing. I’m assuming that’s what he’s told someone - well they’re still being had.

I’m not buying the fact that your culture prevents you from speaking out, unless your culture is widely known for its scammers?

Who is this bloke? Put his name on here, there are plenty of MN’ers with the ability to go and track down what he is and isn’t.

Contact Action fraud and possibly the serious fraud office also local newspapers so that others are forwarned and can also contact the above people, Whatever you do do not blame yourself these horrible thieves know what they are doing love so just be kind to yourself

Update - I've had no contact from the scammer.

I contacted Action Fraud and they have recorded it on their system.

Also contacted my bank who have filed a report and said they will get back to me within 15 days with an answer.

How likely is it that I'll get my money back? That's all I care about at the moment.

Good luck with the bank, I can see they might not be able to help as you paid the money over willingly rather then being tricked although ultimately the money has been stolen I'm not sure that is covered

I'm not optimistic about the bank refunding you, they haven't made any error, they processed the transaction exactly as you requested and intended so I wouldn't expect them to take any responsibility. The refund needs to come from the scammer, not the bank.

Much better chance through legal routes IMO.

Agree. There will have been multiple flags when you set up the transfer to check who you were paying with a large amount to a new payee. Did you issue it as a business or friends/family payment?

I agree with this. From what you have described, it sounds like he has a genuine business but he is propping up that business through robbing Peter to pay Paul, rather than running a scam per se. In those circumstances it isn't something a Bank would pay out for. How successful legal action would be will depend on what assets there are in the business to pay any judgment (which may be limited, if the business is likely under water, but that's speculation).

This is wrong.

It doesn't matter that the bank hasn't made any error. Under new rules, if you have bought something from a scammer and made the payment by bank transfer on or after 7th October, the bank generally has to refund you up to £85,000 (less any fee they charge, up to a maximum of £100). They can refuse if the payment was made via BACS or Swift, or the money was sent abroad (most payments for personal accounts go via Faster Payments, which is eligible). The bank can only refuse if they can prove that you weren't careful enough when you made the payment or you didn't give them information they needed to look at your claim.

I am not saying for certain that OP can recover her money from the bank, but she may be able to do so. The fact the bank didn't make an error is irrelevant.

Unfortunately I paid in April and June so the new rules won't apply to me. I think the issue here is that it's a legitimate business which the scammer is using to rob people. I know other victims have reported it to their bank and none them have been refunded but surely the banks have a responsibility if a fair few people have reported the account the money was paid into?

As far as legal action is concerned, I've put a few feelers out and this guy has no assets to his name or business. He is clearly hiding his assets because he has been seen driving luxury cars which are worth over 200k. Surely if so many people have reported him, would there not be an investigation into where the money is going after people put it into his account?

I'm not sure what my next steps should be once I get a no from the bank.

I have also made contact with some media outlets and will follow it up in the new year. I want this guy and his dodgy dealings to be exposed.

Think about stopping him from doing it again.

He clearly has assets and is hiding them.

At least small claims court will bit judgements against him and they can prevent him from being a business holder.

Thanks.

Would the small claims court look deeper into where he is moving the money etc?

I feel like this scammer needs a full blown undercover type investigation where all his dealings are exposed. He seems to know every trick in the book.

The police could access and freeze his bank accounts if they believe he is acting fraudulently.

Gosh, thank you, I was not aware of this change. Have just googled it. Am surprised, not sure why the banks should take responsibility, but hey!

(Apologies OP for my poor advice too).

I want this guy and his dodgy dealings to be exposed.

Have you tried contacting the local council trading standards department? They have powers to investigate. If the other victims also make reports, even better. Trading standards may take the company to court or stop them operating, but they won’t be able to get your money back.

You have his bank details. Contact his bank's fraud team and alert them of your concerns and the details of the transaction (date, amount etc) and your concerns that he is doing something similar with a number of customers. Have the other people you know do the same.

This will not help you get your money back but puts his bank on notice of the issue and of the potential that the money in the account are the proceeds of crime. They have various obligations in that circumstance, might even freeze his account. The more people contact them the more likely this is.

Small claims court won't investigate where he is hiding his assets- you need a forensic accountant/financial investigator for that. If Trading Standards choose to investigate (and off the top of my head I don't know for sure this comes under their remit) they can appoint one for the purposes of any proceeds of crime application. You can contact Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice Consumer Service. I'm not sure this is a matter the police will investigate.

You can make a small claims court application online via MCOL. It'll prompt you to fill in some details and you can file a witness statement with the application (sorry, didn't know if anyone else had mentioned this). The hearing is very informal and the judge will lead with questions. If you win you get judgment for the debt and can enforce it against anything he owns of value.

I'd find a local bbc reporter and contact them. If it's at least 5 of you they might investigate and it doesn't necessarily need your name to be reported does it? They often talk about victim 'A' or whatever don't they?