“And she goes: ‘I don’t do Bookabach. What do you mean?’
“When I tell you, my heart literally sank to my arse. What do you mean you don’t do Bookabach? Who did I just pay $10,000 to?”
Pemberton said the woman was the same woman pictured in photographs connected to the property on Bookabach.
The property owner guessed that whoever made the fake listing had taken photos of her home from an old real estate listing.
They had also seemingly taken personal photos of her available online.
“The girl [who] came out was the same girl that was the host in the Bookabach pictures, so this scammer has taken photos of the woman from her WhatsApp and has pretended to be her.”
The group of 10 friends flew to the Gold Coast for a fun break to celebrate the new year. Photo / Supplied
With nowhere to go, the group found themselves at a local park trying to figure out where they would spend the night.
One of their party managed to get through to someone at Bookabach and they were granted a few nights’ free stay at a hotel.
They were then able to book accommodation at a different property with Airbnb.
A spokesman for Bookabach’s parent company, Expedia Group, told News.com.au that they were actively investigating the matter.
‘Moral of the story – be careful’
They also acknowledged that the fake listing on their website had been removed and people were no longer able to make bookings for that property.
“We sincerely apologise for Ms Pemberton’s experience and want to assure you that we take any claims of fraudulent use of our platform very seriously.”
Pemberton warned others who may look to book accommodation through websites such as Bookabach of the potential risks.
“Everything happens for a reason. I think the moral of the story is: Be careful.
“I genuinely felt sick to my stomach, thinking that someone has just taken $10,000 and luckily.”
She said she was lucky in that she was with people who were calm and she was grateful they were all safe and okay.
“But I just feel like something could’ve gone really bad. I’m never on booking accommodation [duty] again.”
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