Beware WhatsApp and fake listings: how to avoid holiday fraud

From phantom villas to too-good-to-be-true offers, here’s how to make sure your booking is the real thing

Can you imagine arriving in a small Greek village after a long flight and bus transfer, only to find out that the luxury villa you and your family were expecting to spend the next two weeks in – and spent £5,000 on – simply does not exist?

Some holidaymakers are poised to find themselves in exactly that position this summer, and many more holidays will be ruined as people realise they have been defrauded before they have left for the airport.