Protaras Villas And Apartments - Luxury Properties In Kapparis, Cyprus

[Stabilo]

Feedback received from recent holidaymakers has concerned scams involving rental properties near Protaras, Ayia Napa and Kapparis.

Several unsavoury individuals have collected funds for rental properties that don't even exist. These properties were listed on major internet portals for rental apartments. The holidaymakers assumed that their bookings were safe as they were advertised on these respected websites. The businesses that run these websites have said they do try to check that the adverts are genuine but they offer no guarantees. These scams have been known to involve many thousands of pounds so do take care.

So how can you ensure that you are not being scammed when you make your booking?

The individuals that were scammed paid in full many months before they were due to begin their rental. You should just pay a deposit to the property owner unless your booking is for the next 6 weeks or sooner.

We accept credit cards via Paypal which ensures you are protected if the owner cancels the booking or the apartment doesn’t exist.

You should only make direct payments if you are certain that you can trust the property owner.

How do you know if you are in touch with a genuine owner?

We have 3 or 4 local businesses that manage the apartments for us and you can call them to verify ownership.

You can also contact our developer, Pascahli Ltd http://www.paschalidevelopers.com, and solicitor for verification.

Please let us know if you require contact details for our management companies, the developer or our solicitor.

Rest assured your reservations at the Armonia Exclusive Resort are in safe hands.

[Stabilo]

I was contacted by BBC Radio 4 about this yesterday and it turns out they are broadcasting an article on this scam this Friday.

If anyone is able to record the broadcast I will ask the BBC if we can add the audio to this thread.

[Stabilo]

BBC Radio 4 (Sky Channel 0104 and Digi Channel 704) have now informed me the broadcast will take place on Monday. I emailed them for details of the time and the response was:

Between 12 noon and 1pm (you can also listen on the You and Yours website later that afternoon - the audio will be up for seven days).

[Stabilo]

Julian Worricker's broadcast on BBC Radio 4 today (6th July 2009) regarding the holiday lettings scam is available on BBC iPlayer.

It is the first 14 minutes of the broadcast and is apparently available to listen to until Thursday 1st January 2099

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... 6_07_2009/ is the link for the broadcast.

[Stabilo]

If you just want the Real Audio feed it can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours ... mon_04.ram

(I believe the Real Audio may only be available for about a week)