Holidays ruined over Durban holiday scam
It wasn't a good holiday for all those who visited Durban this festive season...
The holidays were not a jolly experience for everyone who visited our beautiful province this festive season.
An employee at the timeshare property management company, First Group, was found selling timeshare rentals to agents and accepting payments through her personal banking account. Fraudulent proof of payments, forged on the 'First Group' letterhead, was sent to resort management.
The scam was uncovered when guests arrived at resorts for their holidays, only to find out their bookings didn’t exist.
The IOL group spoke to the employee in question, who initially denied the allegations, stating, "What fraud charges? All the timeshares I rented out belonged to me, and that's why payments went into my personal account. I did nothing wrong."
However, after further questioning regarding her dismissal, she admitted that the allegations were true and acknowledged her conflict of interest in failing to disclose the sale of her timeshares to the company.
First Group Director Donald Lamont told IOL, "At her disciplinary hearing, she was charged with 1) Competing with the employer and/or conflict of interest and 2) Gross misconduct related to theft and/or gross dishonesty and was found guilty on both accounts.
"In place of us pursuing civil/criminal charges against her for the losses we suffered by allowing the guests to occupy the property despite us not having received full payment for the bookings, she agreed to sign an Acknowledgement of Debt to reimburse the company for those losses. Should she not honour this agreement, civil and criminal action will follow."
It was a sad and disappointing experience for holidaymakers who travelled to Durban only to discover they had been scammed.
Although some guests have received refunds for their accommodation costs from the agent, they remain frustrated with the experience, questioning why they haven't been reimbursed for their transportation costs.
It must've been disheartening to arrive at your holiday destination only to find there was no place to stay and have to make last-minute arrangements. Faheema Varachia, the agent who was also a victim of the scam, has since filed criminal charges against the employee responsible.
Varachia has paid out of her own pocket to reimburse her clients and maintain her reputation while awaiting the outcome of the legal proceedings. It’s an unfortunate situation, particularly during the holiday season.
To protect yourself from similar scams when booking a holiday, make sure to:
Book directly with the resort, hotel, or chalet.
Confirm banking details by contacting the company directly. Note: If you’re asked to make payments to a personal bank account, that’s a major red flag.
Be cautious if it seems too good to be true – it probably is.
Avoid private timeshare holders selling timeshares on social media, as this is often a scam. Most timeshare contracts do not allow this.
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