Malaga housing scam swindles pregnant woman out of €3,500 in holiday flat rental fraud

The victim, seven months pregnant, arrived with her suitcases at a flat in central Malaga expecting to collect the keys after paying a deposit to a bogus letting agent. Instead, she encountered a cleaner who revealed the property was a licensed holiday rental owned by an elderly woman living in a care home.

The daughetr of owner María (not her real name) explained that her mother currently lives in a care home. To be able to pay the extremely high nursing home bills, María rents out the flat as a holiday let, although in the past she has rented it out on a long-term basis.

Two weeks ago, the former manager of the holiday rental contacted María after the police got in touch with her to warn her that fraudsters had tried to use the flat in a scam. That was the first incident and the one that alerted the family to what was happening.

María contacted the police to confirm that someone had advertised her mother's flat for long-term rent. The police advised her to change the locks. The fraudsters had clearly been inside the property, as they knew it in detail. They had obtained the official land registry extract and drawn up a rental contract in her mother's name.

Unfortunately, the fraudsters succeeded the second time. "Last week, my son called me in a panic. There was a couple at the door saying they had paid a 3,500-euro deposit and that his grandmother (my mother) had rented them the flat," María explained.

"They had arranged to meet the agent outside to collect the keys. When nobody turned up, they went into the property and found the cleaner, who let them in. They thought she was getting the flat ready for them, but she told them it was a holiday rental."

The young woman, who was seven months pregnant and surrounded by suitcases, suffered an anxiety attack on the landing. "She just kept saying: 'I'm not leaving here. I've been scammed.' It was awful."

The police attended and the owners had to produce the property deeds and a notarised power of attorney authorising them to act on María's mother's behalf.

The owner also gave the police details of a guest who had aroused their suspicions: a Spanish man who had booked a five-day stay, was travelling alone, had refused to communicate with her son, who usually makes himself available to guests if they need anything, and had stopped answering his phone. She also provided the booking details from Booking.com to help the police trace the bank accounts used to receive the transfer.

Fearing that there might be more victims, María has blocked all bookings for the rest of the month.

The National Police have recently dismantled a criminal network with international links that exploited the huge unmet demand for rental accommodation to defraud victims of thousands of euros.

The group's alleged method was to rent holiday flats, mainly in the city centre, and then advertise them to dozens of prospective long-term tenants during the short period for which they had access to the properties. Victims were charged hefty booking fees and deposits. When the agreed date came to collect the keys, the fraudsters simply failed to turn up.

So far, investigators have provisionally identified around 20 victims and estimate that the gang took approximately 150,000 euros. They expect both figures to rise over the coming days as more victims come forward.

The investigation began after the police received a flood of complaints. So far, ten people have been brought before the courts: seven have been arrested and three are under investigation on suspicion of belonging to a criminal organisation, repeated fraud and money-laundering.

The gang searched holiday-rental websites and chat groups to find licensed tourist properties in the city. They would pay for just one night's stay and, once they had the keys, set their scam in motion. Within hours, they would use false paperwork to turn the property into a supposed year-long rental.

The gang posted fake rental adverts on social media and arranged a series of viewings, sometimes showing the same flat to several victims and falsely renting it to more than one person on the same day.

Those who fell for the scam were pressured into paying a booking fee and deposit straight away, either by bank transfer or through Bizum. The fraudsters used the familiar excuse that there were "lots of other interested people on the waiting list" to make victims feel they had to act quickly.

In some cases, the scam came to light when the actual owner of the holiday flat arrived to collect or hand over the keys, or when the next legitimate holidaymakers turned up to stay. Meanwhile, the victims found themselves out on the street with their belongings and no way of recovering their money.

The network's leadership was based in Thailand, where its alleged ringleader operated. The man, who is currently under investigation, was responsible for posting the fraudulent adverts, making initial contact through messaging apps and arranging viewings.

At the next level, the gang had an associate on the ground responsible for logistics on the Costa del Sol. He collected cash, looked after and distributed the keys and channelled the money to Benalmádena, where it was converted into crypto-assets and transferred to virtual wallets.

At the bottom of the operation were the so-called "door openers", who acted as the public face of the scam. Two of those arrested allegedly had the specific task of posing as property owners or legitimate agents, confidently showing people around the flats, signing fake contracts and collecting cash or checking that bank transfers had arrived.

According to police sources, both men knew perfectly well that the properties did not belong to them and were fully aware of the fraudulent operation in which they were taking part.

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