PREMIER HOLIDAY APARTMENTS SCAM

rogelius77 · Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

hi!
I think I have been scammed by this company, they offer a lovely flat in south kensington for £300 a week for holiday let

they ask for a deposit and i thought it was ok since it wasn't a money gram or western union but a normal uk bank account

still not heard back from them...

anyone has dealt with these people

their website is http://www.premierholidayappartment.com , the email is info@premierholidayappartment.com

and the name of the scammer is John Lewis

please if anyone has dealt with them would be great to hear what happened////

xx

montyzuma · Community Moderator Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 2612

contact the police and the bank

amelia1234 · Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

I also have the same problem. Paid a deposit and now i havent heard a thing for some time. Can you please let me know if you have had any luck with the bank or police?

Mr_X · Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 113

This might be an easy scam to fall for, especially if you do not know London prices or the SW7 area (South Kensington)

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=1278353&agentid=02179

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=1043941&agentid=12247

http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=224707&agentid=02181

And thats just a couple of 1 bedroom flats, within 1/2 mile radius of where this property is being advertised.

And all of these agents are advertising for long term let, which is cheaper than short term.

If it was a UK Bank account then do notify the bank and the police.

Let us know the outcome

Bluey · Community Moderator Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 4815

That website went live on 20th Feb 08 and is administered by Tucows

You can identify the registrant details by doing a Whois Lookup but if its a scam, then invariably these will be fake details.

http://precow.tucows.com/cgi-bin/whois.cgi

Suggest you notify Tucows Admin and/or the Registrant provider (i.e the company that provided a wizard for the person to build the website) with the police report number and ask them to pull the website.

If they advertised on Gumtree, please notify Gumtree admin so they can pull the ads.

The phone number provided on their website also appears on the following site. Originally I presumed that it was just a number that's been hijacked by the scammer from a legit site.

http://tuxedophonetrade.com/

However, as the registrant and registrant provider details are virtually identical to the first site and it was set up on the 18th Feb, I am inclined to think that the phone site was set up by the same scammer.

For example, the tuxedophonetrade.com site claims to have been online for 6 years but was only set up 6 weeks ago. Also, it provides information to say that it is the online site for NIAZI TRADERS LIMITED but the record in the Companies House database lists this company as 'dormant' (i.e. not trading).

I noticed that they are advertising on the following site and I've drawn the attention of the administrators to reports that people have been scammed. Suggest you do the same.

http://www.jmlvillas.com/villa/676

Based on the typo in the above ad, and the scammers love of multiple sites, I googled the following search "Self Catering Appartment to let in Chelsea"

and identified similar registrant information via a Whois look up for the website

http://oops!.co.uk/vac/596058258.html
vineyardholidayhomes.com

which has many adverts on the internet, plus the previous site advertised here

http://www.englishcottagerental.com/The_Royal_Place_Chelsea_Central_London.htm

I would therefore expect that the scammer is bashing out many similar websites for a couple of quid (or free using stolen cards) and then advertising them for free or cheap across the internet.

rogelius77 · Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

Thanks a lot for all the info and the bit of detective work.
Unfortunately there is not much that can be done via the bank, as i did make the bank transfer of my own will, and that is a bit of a problem.
However, I have reported it as a crime to the police, which apparently is as much as it can be done...
please spread the word, the same people are operating with different names, i traced another one saying i wanted to rent his flat, which was up on gumtree yesterday and this person gave me the exact same bank account as the one i fell for before, so they are out there, beware!

upfeluga · Joined: 03 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

I emailed Vineyard Holiday Homes from my home in Australia on 30th April and had several emails back from them, they got mixed up with the names of their rentals and referred to a rental not on their website called The Royal Place, when I asked them about the name they said they made a mistake and that Hosea House is the one that is available for rent.
I got a bit suspitious and asked for the price and address of Hosea House so that a friend can drive past and check it out, they did not reply, that was 2 days ago. We then found a photo of a Chelsea Apartment on a site called Kijiji that is the same photo on the site for Hosea house which is suppose to be in South Kensigton.
Any tips on legit apartments for rent in Central London for the first two weeks of July.

Dirty Mom · Joined: 15 Jan 2008 Posts: 1124

ajelliott1982 · Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

Hi,
I am also in the same position. I've paid a deposit for 2 weeks accommodation in May and have not heard from them. I've emailed several times and the phone line does not work.
I'd be interested to hear how you got on with the bank and police as I'm at a loss what to do.
Please email me at:
ajelliott1982@hotmail.com
Thanks.

sue95 · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5

Sadly I have also been duped.... I was looking for a temporary place to stay while I moved house within London and I booked and paid for 4 weeks in May. I did think it was a great bargain for London and the area, but to be honest I didn't imagine it was a scam - I am usually quite good at spotting these things! I feel rather stupid now though!! I paid them 10% deposit plus a returnable 200, this was 524 in total. Initial contact via email was very professional. "John" contacted me to say that my payment had not gone through - I guess now that he thought I might pay it again, but I knew it had come out of my account so I just sent him the details of when I paid. I was supposed to receive a contract the next day, and 2 months on, I have not received this. Due to a change in circumstances I no longer needed the apartment, so I contacted them to cancel.... after several emails and phonecalls to their non-existent number, I googled them and found this forum..... AAARRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!! I am awaiting news from the Fraud department at my bank....

citydave · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

People need to engage their brains. They can't even spell apartment correctly on their website despite repeating it several times. Yeah, sounds very professional to me!

isabelkate · Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 3

I saw this posting and my heart sank. I too have put down a nearly £300 deposit for this place. Has anyone made any headway as far as these guys are concerned? Any contact made, or solutions found? I'm hoping to go to police, bank, and Citizen's Advice Bureau within the next day or two and will post again if I come up with any new information. In the meantime, if anyone wants to join forces, please let me know. I'm based in London.

Bluey · Community Moderator Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 4815

Has anyone contacted the ISP that hosts their site? Contact their Admin to get the site pulled? I don't know how this works, if they need a crime number or something but they usually have a contact form and should be able to advise.

sue95 · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5

I have now reported this to the police who are investigating it for me, suggest everyone else does the same!

sue95 · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5

I have just seen a posting in holiday rentals advertising an apartment for 300/wk in bayswater (easyholidayhomerent.com) - pics are similar to the premierholidayappartment.com site, also same price and same style of private website - I looked on WHOIS.NET and the registrant's address is on the same street (different house number) as premier. Coincidence? I have emailed gumtree to ask them to investigate...

sue95 · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5

Oh, and easyholidayhomerent.com was only created yesterday, despite their website claims. I have emailed homestead, their wed admin site.

isabelkate · Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 3

Hey Sue, which police dept did you report to? I was going to go to the one in Kensington this evening, since it's close to my work and close to the address they give...

sue95 · Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 5

Hi Isabelkate, I contacted my local one in Wandsworth who got the relevant offices to contact me - just go to your local one or phone them (you can get the non-emergency numbers online) and they will send your claim to the appropriate place and give you a crime reference number. I have just spoken to the detectives in charge and am sending them all my correspondence. They are aware of the scam as there have been several reports. Fingers crossed they get caught soon!

isabelkate · Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 3

Hi Sue,

The police told me that since technically they haven't screwed me yet (I booked the place for June 7), it's technically not yet a crime and nothing can be done until after the 7th. But they did say I should contact Trading Standards. I may go back to them and ask if it makes a difference if there's evidence that they've conned other people before. It would be nice not to just wait around for another three weeks before I can do something. Any thoughts?

Also, feel free to email me directly if you'd like - isabelkate@gmail.com

gums · Joined: 18 May 2008 Posts: 315

must not let scammers think they can win we need to beat the world of scammers..