THE Costa del Sol has labored arduous to shake off its picture as a hotspot for criminals and scammers.
However the truth is there are nonetheless tons of working on the coast – or close by – and we’re the one English newspaper devoted to investigating them.
We have now uncovered scores of scammers down the years for our readers, however unhappy to say they simply carry on coming.
Our newest investigative story is the newest in a protracted line about expats making the most of the unregulated vacation rental market…this time pocketing money that ought to have gone to the proprietor.
And outrageously Juliette De Courcy Withey had beforehand complained about one other expat pair who had perpetrated a really comparable fraud – and at the exact same palace she is alleged to have illegally let loose herself.
What comes round, comes round, as they are saying. So it was no shock that The Olive Press had really first uncovered the so-called Rainbow Villas rip-off approach again in 2015.
In that miserable case, later adopted up within the UK press, we revealed how Mark and Michelle Stafford have been accused of utilizing the Benahavis villa to defraud as much as 100 unsuspecting Brits.
There are such a lot of conmen nonetheless on the market and, as the vacation season is about to bounce again in an enormous approach, you might want to hold your eyes peeled.
From these focusing on holidaymakers with pretend web sites the place properties don’t really exist, to
wedding ceremony planners who take the money and run away forsaking a path of distraught brides and grooms. It appears scammers will cease at nothing to strip arduous working vacationers, landlords and expats of their hard-earned money.
Sadly for them, our NCTJ-trained investigative crew will cease at nothing to reveal their shady dealings.
We have now been doing this for 17 years and can proceed to take action for a few years to return. And that’s a promise!
