‘Holiday swindling’: CT guest house warns tourists of identity theft scam

The owners of a Cape Town guest house are warning prospective guests about a scam by a con artist who has allegedly stolen their identity and swindled victims out of millions of Rands.

Following the popular Netflix documentary Tinder Swindler, scammers online are fast being exposed for their devious acts. Now, travel scams – like fake travel agency Hello Darlings – are also being brought to light.

Da Heim Guest House in Table View, Cape Town has become aware of a scammer who has created a fake Facebook page about their holiday destination. The accused conman has also duped victims with fake banking details which he has used to swindle huge sums of money out of them.

CAPE TOWN GUEST HOUSE EXPOSE SCAM ARTIST

According to Cape {town} Etc, Da Heim Guest House realised something was amiss when numerous people enquired about bookings that were never made.

On several occasions, guests even arrived at the holiday home only to discover that they had no real booking. They later learned that they had been scammed by a fake advertisement online.

According to Da Heim, a man by the name of Jamie Hughes is behind the identity theft scam. Owner Thorsten Leich claims that the man has stolen pictures of his home, which he has posted on a fake Facebook page.

Jamie Hughes has allegedly also advertised Da Heim Guest House on various booking sites – like bookings.com and Airbnb . The man uses various marketing gimmicks – like fake specials on accommodation in a bid to lure holiday-makers.

Once unsuspecting guests believe they have paid a deposit directly to him, the man allegedly then disappears with their money.

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According to Cape {town} Etc, Da Heim Guest House has collected bank statements, victim testimonies and photographic evidence which they have supplied to the police.

This, after one particular incident in which an angry group of travellers accused management of operating a scam after they unknowingly made a fake booking.

“My manager and I went to Milnerton Police station after we had heavy discussions with a group of nine people who were victims of this scam. They were standing in front of my house and after our manager explained that they were victims of a scam, they didn’t believe her and threatened her. She called me and I immediately came to the guesthouse,” Thorsten Leich told the publication.

One victim revealed that they had filed a report of fraud with ABSA bank and had Jamie Hughes’s account frozen. However the conman reportedly has several other banking accounts he uses in his fraudulent activities.

According to Da Heim management, a police officer allegedly confirmed that other cases like these have been opened. However, no action has yet to be taken against the perpetrators.

Da Heim has warned the public to only make bookings with them via their official website www.daheimguesthouse.de. Management have emphasised that Da Heim does not take any bookings through Facebook or any other booking sites.