The eagerly anticipated annual weekend break in Gozo did not materialise this summer for some people who were conned into making a deposit on a fake farmhouse they never got to relax in.
The man behind the scam, a 23-year-old, appeared in court yesterday and admitted to defrauding about 15 groups of people.
Magistrate Antonio Mizzi heard that the Gozitan who resides in Malta, placed an advert on Maltapark.com advertising a farmhouse in Gozo for rent.
He embellished his advert with photos of an actual farmhouse that did not belong to him which he had lifted from another, legitimate website.
Speaking to The Times after his arraignment, Eve McKeon said she and her friends were meant to spend a weekend break on August 24. Her friend had found the farmhouse on MaltaPark and sent an e-mail to the address on the advert.
A man confirmed the availability of the farmhouse and asked for a deposit of €21 from each member of the group, which was meant to consist of 13 people.
Her friend then met the man to hand over the deposit.
Whenever she tried calling him on the mobile phone number he gave her she could not get through, though they did communicate via text messages.
On the eve of the holiday, the man sent a message saying he was abroad and the farmhouse was no longer available.
Meanwhile, Ms McKeon and her friends surfed the net and found a photo of the same farmhouse on a different website.
They contacted the owner who said it had never been booked on their name. That was when they realised they had been scammed and informed the police.
“We usually buy our groceries from Gozo but this time I bought everything online from Malta,” Ms McKeon said.
Determined to have her weekend break, she got on the phone and spent a morning calling various farmhouses.
It was difficult to find a place in August, peak season, but, in the end, she managed.
The case was put off for judgment and a pre-sentencing report is being drawn up. He was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000.
Police Inspectors Jonathan Ferris and James Grech prosecuted.
Michael Sciriha appeared for the defendant.