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    Site Security Information

    The majority of enquiries and email you receive from our site will be legitimate, however there will always be an element of risk with communications via the internet. We advise site users to be on their guard. We provide the information below to help you minimise this risk - please read it very carefully.

    Protecting Your Email Address
    We use email forms to help protect advertisers email addresses. Advertisers will receive initial enquiries via these forms which will help them identify spam email. We also use email forms in other areas of the site such as contact us and send to a friend.

    On signing up for our service we ask for your email address and we verify you own it by way of an activation link. If you load a property using this email address we make certain checks to establish whether you can advertise that property as the rightful owner/agent.

    If you are an advertiser requesting a change of email address we also verify this by asking a security question which must be answered from the new email address. This ensures property advertisers email addresses are owned by them and they have the right to receive enquiries via their email form.

    In line with data security policies we never pass on or sell email addresses to third parties (and nor would we want to).

    Holidaymakers Advice To Identify Fraudulent Adverts
    While we have security systems in place to help prevent fraudulent adverts, we advise holidaymakers to make satisfactory checks against advertised properties and owner/agents before making any payments. Ensure you have the owner/agents full contact details and speak with them by telephone. Ask them to provide references if possible.

    If you are uncertain as to the legitimacy of any adverts published on this site please contact us via the report advert link.

    Advertisers Precautions When Taking Bookings
    Advertisers who take bookings should be extremely careful when giving refunds - if you have to give a refund for a genuine cancellation, make absolutely sure that the original sum of money is deposited in your account before doing so. Accept payments by bankers draft or certified cheques with caution.

    Protecting Yourself Against Viruses
    In line with good computing practice you should check that your anti-virus software and spyware software are up to date, however you should exercise judgement in all email communications rather than rely on having up to date protection. There will always be a delay between new virus discovery and updates from your software provider.

    Recognising Scams By Email
    Be cautious with all emails. Use your intuition - if an email sounds suspicious or does not "feel" right, check with the sender before acting on it. If an email arrives with an offer to secure a large amount of money with little effort on your part, or you have won an XBOX! - or contains a warning that you have violated some law, system or bank account and you need to act immediately - consider the likelihood of its legitimacy.  Some examples of ways to recognise scam emails are listed below:

    • Badly written emails with spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors, or emails which are overly polite and formal, using titles Sir/Madam or claiming to be from people with a title of Dr, Minister etc should be deleted immediately.
    • Circular emails addressed un-specifically should be treated with caution - for example an email referring to your house/apartment/villa which is not written in a personal manner.
    • Emails containing long, torrid distress stories or financial woes, with a plea to assist someones dead relative or to move funds for them in order to receive a share (for a small fee up front, of course) - these should also be deleted immediately (although they do make entertaining reading, if you have the time).
    • Emails asking for a refund should be treated with suspicion, unless it is a genuine purchase.


    Our advice:

    • Do not reply to emails of this nature - delete them immediately
    • Check the email address and try to get a landline number from the enquirer
    • Do not give out property addresses until you are SURE the enquirer is genuine
    • Do not accept deposits or payments which seem more awkward than usual - and NEVER refund before funds have cleared in your own account.
    • If it seems too good to be true, then it is
    • If the enquiry seems genuine and you would like to make contact, check the contact number. Be wary of 070 numbers in particular as these are not mobile phone numbers and most likely redirected to a lengthy answerphone message with high call costs.
    • If you are at all doubtful about an enquiry and its legitimacy please email it to us and we will give you our opinion. Other advertisers are also very watchful and they will happily contrubute. Lets be safe.


    And be very wary about any of the following:

    • Emails which contain attachments - if you know the sender, have received email from them previously and are expecting the email then it may be valid. If the Subject line makes no sense then its most probably not to be trusted. Its possible the email has come from a trusted source but they have not authorised it and they have in fact been the victim of an email virus. Always check with the sender before opening any attachment unless you are certain you know what it is.
    • Emails asking you to click a link to another site to make payment and to give credit card or bank details or personal information - should be deleted immediately.
    • Emails informing you that your password has changed - should be deleted immediately if you have not requested it - reputable organizations never request this information by email.
    • Emails informing you that your account needs updating or verifying - as above - delete immediately.


    Recognising Telephone Scams

    If you receive a telephone call asking for account information or passwords, NEVER give them out. If you think the call may be genuine it is always advisable that you end it immediately and contact that person or organisation using their known, published contact numbers.

    Occasionally these scams work by scare tactics, such as the "Jury Duty" scam whereby the caller identifies themselves as a court officer and informs you that you have missed your appearance for jury duty, and there is a fine to pay.

    The same rules apply to both email and telephone scams - always check the validity of the request by contacting the person or organization by their published contact details.

    Recognising Phishing Scams
    "Phishing" is the term used to describe the attempt to obtain financial or personal details, such as user names, passwords and credit card information in order to use them for fraudulent purposes. Usually this will be in the form of an email, directing you to a website which may appear to be trusted, but turns out not to be - and the effects of falling for this scam can be financially devastating - but there is a golden rule to avoid being lured into this....

    "Never click a link in an email asking you to enter account, credit/debit card, banking or financial information."

    theholidaylet.com will NEVER ask you to divulge financial information via email, or ask you to make payment for an advert or to renew a service by clicking a link. When making payments ALWAYS log into your account at www.theholidaylet.com

    When registering for our service we send you a link which you must click in order to activate your account with us. This is the ONLY occasion where you should do this. We send reminder emails to advertisers informing them that their property advert is due for renewal - however they do not contain links and in all cases you should log into the site normally to renew your advert.

    If you are unsure of any email which seems to be from us please do not act on it or click any attachments or links within it. Contact us using the online form or by telephone and we will advise. 

    Scam Warnings and Examples


    Scam Reply Update - 04/08/20

    We have recently been made aware of scam replies to enquiries that have been made on our site by a third party calling himself ‘David' - a Property manager. His replies come from several email addresses such as:

    [email protected] 
    [email protected]
    [email protected]

    He initially asks if you received his response regarding the vacation rental. He then claims that he has problems with his server and the contents of the enquiry have gone missing and that he would need you to confirm the type/location/size/budget of property you require, claiming he can get a discount from the owner. He then emails details of a completely different property on another website. It is then followed by an attachment of a booking sheet (do not open) stating that you must make payment in full by XOOM Payment Service by Paypal. If you have had any communication with this individual or emails of a dubious nature, please cease immediately and DO NOT pay any money.    

    Scam Update - 02/06/2014

    Urgent Warning:
    We have recently been notified of a scam where advertisers have been contacted by phone and offered a discount to feature their property or a deal on professional photographs. This is somebody pretending to be from theholidaylet and they are NOT from our company. Even though they may sound convincing and have your name or property reference number, please DO NOT make a payment or give out card details to anyone over the phone - it is a scam. We do not offer a professional photography service. If you wish to feature your property, do so by logging into your account.

    If you have received a call from this person or persons, please let us know.


    Scam Enquiry Update - 05/01/2010

    Over the holiday period we have been targetted by David and Peter - its likely the fake enquiries are all being sent by the same person.

    The first contact (please note that several email addresses have been used for the same scam) - [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] m

    From:      daivd ross
    Sent:     4 Jan 2010 12:29:27
    Email address:     [email protected]
    Telephone number:     +1
    Number of adults in party: 2
    Arrive: 05/05/2010
    Depart: 30/05/2010

    Am interested in your Property for the date below.

    Checking Date : 05 May 2010 .
    Checking Time : ??????????
    Checkout Date : 30 May 2010
    Checkout Time : ?????????

    2 Adults : Total Price Needed..
    kindly let me know if its will be possible to make uses of Personal Pc??
    Kind Regards,

    (The advertiser identified this as a scam immediately, but sent a reply to gain further information).

    The scammers next reply
    Thanks alot for the mail,well in the mail you sent you refereeing that the  months rents is  £932.00,which i hope that its includes all the monthly bills and as well the monthly fees for the home utilities of the home i hope you do get what am trying to say.I dont have any problem with that just to make sure that everything is correct, i hope that its understandable,i should have pay you the deposited only first but no one can never tell so i will be paying the rental at once so that when we arrived we will not be paying any more bills i will need to know how to process the journey from the nearest air port to the home i mean to the location  of the home we are renting from you so that me and my wife will not have much trouble locating the home or you can help pick us up at  the air port i will provides you the time and the date that we will be arriving into the city when! i might have been able to paid you,Well to the total amount of the  rental cost ,and  the term of the payment procedure i will be sending you the Total of £4932.00 to you, As soon as you get the British Bank Cheque ,you will get it deposited in your bank for clearance and after the money has been cleared into your account,you would deduct the upfront payment and send the remaining balance,which would be for our flight expenses,BTA (Basic Travelers Allowance) and some other necessary paperworks. The balance should be sent to our traveling agent whose information i would give to you as soon as you receive payment.

    Here is my information below :

    David Ross : Father 49 Age
    Linda Ross : :Wife 38
    Address:21 crowshaw drive,
    lower healey rochdale
    ol12 0sr lancs
    United kingdom.

    Payment Option Euro Bank Cheque/British Bank Cheque, hope its O.K?

    Name that will be on the French Cheque*******
    Address of the receiver*******
    Full Address*******
    Cell Phone Number**********
    Home Phone Number*******
    Office Phone Number***********
    Property Address Needed*******

             Payment Procedure i ought to have use my credit card but i dont know how its works in Europe but i will prefer to make the payment sent to you Euro Bank Cheque that will be O.K i mean cleared in your account in few days,Let me have the booking form or you can send the booking form by email attachment.What is your full name so as to issue the Bank Cheque and your home Address to send it to and also fax number and phone numbers.I will also appreciate if you can call me on our British Mobile phone +447011163986

     .Pls do get back in time so that the cheque payment can get to you intime ok .
    Awaiting your soonest respond back .
    Cheers
    David Ross.

    How the scam works
    There is more than one scam attempt here.

    1. The scammer relies on banks taking time to clear overseas cheques so that the provider is not alerted to the fraud until after they have “refunded” the difference.

    2. The enquirer has offered a false mobile number beginning 070 - see full details of the 070 telephone number scam below.


    Scam Enquiry Update 18/05/2009

    The latest scam enquiry was received on Saturday 16/05/2009 - we received early warning on this and were able to remove it from most advertisers accounts before it was read. Note the contact telepehone number which could be confused with an ordinary mobile number. This scam involves use of a personal number, beginning with 070 - which no doubt routes to another landline or mobile number. The charges can be upwards of 50p per minute (and often more) - the usual scam would involve a lengthy answerphone message, leading nowhere. OFCOM do have rules in place regarding these numbers, however they are easily obtainable and unsuspecting people do fall victim.

    The Scam
    From: Dr Famo Richard
    Sent: 16 May 2009 11:51:37
    Email address: [email protected]
    Telephone number: +01
    Number of adults in party: 2
    Number of children in party: 2
    Arrive: 01/08/09
    Depart: 25/03/2010 

    Bonjour,

    Checking Date : 1st Aug 2009
    Checking Time : 12.00 Am
    Checkout Date :25th March 2010 Checkout
    Time : 10.45 Am 2 Adults : 2 children. 

    Am from New Jersey a business man we have decided to come to France due to the economy problem here in the United state i will be hoping to have further details about the property and also the total price for the 8 months rentals as its very important and very urgent.We have alternative date if its will not be open for 8 months we can still check in right from Aug 01 till the 25 of Aug if its will be possible do let me know O.K.

    in at the moment we are presently here in London you can reach me on +447045706423.

    Kind Regards

    Famo Richard DiDonato.
    339 Franklin Avenue
    Wycoff New Jersey
    07481

    USA


    Scam Enquiry Update - 02/05/2009

    There have been a spate of scam emails sent to advertisers recently and the scammers work by sheer numbers of emails sent. Our advice is to delete ANY suspected scam enquiry immediately. Do not reply to it at all, even though your natural reaction may be to tell them to kindly to "go away", its best not to attract their attention by replying.

    We have posted examples below - these are typical in that the English and grammar is poor, they dont give away much information or they ask you to provide something extra - dont be fooled. Be cautious with every enquiry.

    Example 1:
    Number of adults in party: 2
    Number of children in party: 0
    Arrive: 01/07/09
    Depart: 25/07/09

    Dear Owner,
    Saw the advert of your property for rent theholidaylet.com,well our check and check out date are stated below.

    Checking Date : 1st July 2009
    Checking Time : 12.00 Am
    Checkout Date :25th July 2009 Checkout
    Time : 10.45 Am 2 Adults .

    We just got married some couple of months ago,so we felt we should relocate for three weeks,we are presently here in Liverpool.Am from Georgia my wife is from Dutch.email me back with further details O.K and total price for the rentals for the date make sure you get back to me with the available date in time.

    Name Dr Piette Anderson Harper
    6975 Redwood Drive
    Columbus, Georgia
    31904
    +447045706423.

    Signs to look for here are: The "Dr" in the name, the extended period of stay (3 weeks), the mention of their wedding, poor grammar, mobile phone details only as well as an email address at yahoo.com

    Any enquiry from an email address that can be obtained "easily" should be treated with caution. Certain aspects of this email could be true, but put them all together and it is a scam. This Dr. has been quite busy and is well known. He is industrious, but very annoying :0)

    Example 2:
    Number of adults in party: 2
    Arrive: 15/07/2009
    Depart: 15/08/2009

    Hello, My Name in Timothy Eads...i came across your property in which am indeed interested in renting it,So kindly get back to me with the below info;the details of the property?the description of the place for rent?the address?also will you take cashier check for payment?hope to your immediate response........................ Regards Tim.....

    Signs to look for here are: Tim is asking for more details of the property - does he need them? Your property details are there for him to see, including facilities, images and description. He does not need the address until you are sure his enquiry is valid (and then you should only give the address with extreme caution). Tim has left no contact number and also has an email address at yahoo.com. The final and most important factor here is his mention of cashiers cheque. Avoid at all costs.

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