Beware: Ballito ‘holiday home’ scam nightmare

Families planning the perfect Ballito holiday have been left disappointed and cheated of their hard-earned money after reportedly being conned in a holiday accommodation scam.

Ballito resident Ugeshni Naicker has had to turn away more than 10 families who had booked and paid for their holidays, not knowing that the home they thought they would be staying in, is in fact Naicker’s private residence.

Her Ashley Road home had been advertised online as a holiday home, with the scammer, who claims to be from Palm Oceans Holiday Lettings, already racking up a pretty penny after taking deposits and full payments, and handing out fraudulent affidavits stating he owns the property.

Naicker managed to get a copy of the advert, which has been circulating on multiple Facebook groups, giving only a description of the home with no address.

“The one lady who came to check in had an affidavit for my property.”

This is when Naicker decided to contact the scammer.

“I got a colleague of mine to contact him, under the pretense of wanting to book. As he continued speaking, my colleague questioned the physical address, but the scammer insisted it was another property in Ashley Road and not 40. He keeps changing the numbers.”

The Courier contacted the number on the advert and the man who answered denied defrauding anyone.

He claimed to be letting out another property in Ashley Road and not number 40.

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Last weekend Naicker had 10 families visit her home, including a family who had driven all the way from Johannesburg, arriving after 9pm on Sunday for a ‘late check-in’.

This unfortunate family had allegedly paid upfront for their week-long holiday, only to be left high and dry.

Naicker has now had to hang a sign from her gate to ward off other victims, however her biggest fear is the families who have booked accommodation in advance for the December holidays.

“I can only imagine what is going to happen when they do come by in December to discover that this was all a scam.”

One of the victims, Ashley Naidoo from Chatsworth, was looking forward to a December break in Ballito with his family from Johannesburg after seeing the advertisement on the Chatsworth Trader Facebook group.

“My sister-in-law was planning to come down for the December holidays and was leaning towards the South Coast, but at only R750 a night for a whole house, we decided to go ahead with the holiday home advertised in Ballito,” said Naidoo.

“The man we contacted would only respond via WhatsApp, and every time we asked him anything he would say he was either busy or at church. Eventually he responded before emailing us a certified affidavit confirming that the property was his.”

Naidoo deposited the money, after which his sister-in-law saw a comment on one of the Facebook ads, claiming he was a fraud.

Naidoo demanded a refund, which was refused. By the time he got to the bank to reverse the transaction, it was already too late as the money had already been withdrawn.

Umhlali SAPS Captain Vinny Pillay has confirmed that police are investigating and urged holidaymakers to be cautious when booking accommodation.

“So far two people have called me regarding this scam, both having paid deposits,” said Pillay.

“During the holiday period people often come into Ballito and take photos of houses that are usually vacant, post them on Facebook and advertise them as holiday homes. Often the victims do not check the house before coming here on holiday and on the day they arrive, they find that the home is either not what they paid for, or is a private residence.”

Holiday makers who are skeptical about holiday accommodation deals can contact Umhlali SAPS to confirm that they are in fact legitimate.

Anyone who has information that may assist the police in this case can contact Umhlali SAPS on 032-947 9900.

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