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Claudia Natoli thought she was on to a good thing - so good that when she inquired about a luxury four-bedroom rental villa in Bali, she emailed the owner and asked: ''What's the catch?'' He had offered an attractive discount on the original price and was so obliging, he even helped organise a fully catered pre-wedding party - including drinks, food and waiters - that she planned to host at the property. The deal was too good to be true. Hackers had intercepted her initial email, posed as the accommodation owner and lured her into making a bogus booking. Natoli is among scores of tourists who have been snared in a worldwide travel scam that targets property owners who advertise their rentals on websites including HomeAway, VRBO and FlipKey, which is mostly owned by TripAdvisor. In nearly every case, the victim arrives in paradise only to discover the communication had been faked, the genuine owner has never heard of them and the accommodation is booked out - leaving them broke and stranded. Last week, NSW Fair Trading confirmed it had received complaints about the scam and encouraged others to come forward and lodge a formal complaint. Consumer Affairs Victoria warned that booking overseas private accommodation online was ''much riskier'' than dealing directly with a hotel or travel agent. Reports first surfaced about the multimillion-dollar global swindle in September 2010. Since then, the internet has been awash with blogs and forums about the problem. In the past 12 months, travellers appear to have been increasingly targeted, with luxury Balinese properties used as bait. Travellers' contact details and inquiries are initially netted either by ''phishing'' or acquiring information about a property owner's genuine email account through false advertisements on reputable websites. Souce: http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/8555018/Travellers-stranded-by-phishing-scam Discusses: http://www.zotero.org/message/viewdiscussion/182805

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