Holiday scam on Facebook stings family in Donegal Northern Ireland | Travel News | Travel | #datingscams | #lovescams | #facebookscams

Catriona Morgan stumbled upon an advertisement on Facebook Marketplace for a home with a hot tub in Donegal, Northern Ireland, and secured what she thought was a “good deal”. Catriona left the deposit to reserve a week in July for her family, her parents, her brother, sister-in-law and their children but soon found she had been duped.

The supposed owner had even told Catriona, who is a teacher, an alleged sob story to be about his father who is recovering from cancer.

Catriona, from Derry, Northern Ireland, wants to raise awareness about scams online.

She told Belfast Live: “I was devastated because it was the first time that my parents were going to see all of their grandchildren together.

“And what is scary about all of this now is that he came across as a very nice person who just wanted everything to go as smooth as possible.

“He would chat to you as if you were somebody that he would know. He would talk about how his father was undergoing treatment for cancer and how he hoped that the treatment went well.”

The mum of two was crushed when, on April 1, her husband spotted a Facebook post from someone who had found themselves in a similar situation and had been scammed.

Catriona noticed that the name that was on the listing on Facebook was the same as the man she’d been talking to.

“I thought my husband was joking initially because it was April Fools Day but that’s when he alerted me to someone who had found themselves in a similar situation that didn’t add up,” she said.

“I recognised that it was his name that was on the listing on Facebook and that’s when I knew it was a scam.

“It’s very strange now when you look back in hindsight.

“People like this need to be stopped. There are many people that I have been in contact with now from across Northern Ireland that have found themselves in this situation and then there are people who are doing the same thing as us right now, as we speak, and they have no idea yet.”

The woman still hasn’t got her money back.

Police also warned people to be extra vigilant when looking for accommodation, particularly now at a time when society and foreign travel has opened up again.

A spokesperson for Garda Siochana said: “Now that society has reopened, there are many more opportunities for fraudsters. We would advise people to be extra vigilant to avoid becoming a target.

“Trust your instincts and, like anything in life, if the offer sounds too good to be true then it probably is.”