How To Spot Bungalow Scams?

Bungalow fraud has become one of the most significant problems in recent times, causing grievances for many consumers. In today's article, we will share information based on our experiences on how to distinguish between legitimate agencies and facilities and scammers. 

Bungalow and villa reservations are made using two different methods. You can make a reservation either through authorized and TÜRSAB-certified travel agencies or by reserving directly with the facility. Now let's examine how to identify real agencies and facilities.

First of all, certain conditions must be met to become a travel agency; it cannot be an individual or sole proprietorship. Only Limited Liability Companies (LLC) and Joint Stock Companies can operate as travel agencies. Furthermore, to become a travel agency, one must obtain a travel agency operating license from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and must be a member of the Union of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB). Scammers have gone so far that they even forge these documents. Therefore, instead of trusting the images you receive, you must verify the authenticity of these documents. Let's see together what steps are taken to verify these documents.

This is the official TÜRSAB website. The website address is as follows: 

It is possible to query an agency from TÜRSAB's site. The search link is https://www.tursab.org.tr/acenta-arama

On this link, you can search by the agency's name or document number. After the query, it is possible to check the agency's document title, document number, address, phone, email address, and any approved websites if available. You can see similar examples below.

Aside from TÜRSAB, these documents can also be verified through the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The Ministry's verification link is http://yatirimisletmeleruygulama.kultur.gov.tr/acente.web.sorgu/sorgu/acentesorgu

On this link, you can also perform queries using the agency document number or agency name. An example is provided below. 

On this page as well, you can find contact and email addresses belonging to the agency. 

If you are making a reservation directly through a website, many agencies have a digital verification section. When you click this link, it redirects you to TÜRSAB, where you can view that it is a genuinely registered and approved site. If the redirection leads you to a non-registered site, the link will not open on TÜRSAB. It is crucial to carefully check the site link on the page that opens here, as scammers often create exact copies of the TÜRSAB opening page.

After verifying all this information, during the payment stage, if you are given an IBAN belonging to an individual rather than the company, or if you are still unsure, you must check the numbers associated with the agency in both TÜRSAB and Ministry queries. If the number you are speaking with is different, call the communication numbers listed on TÜRSAB to confirm. Ask for confirmation that the person works there and request an IBAN number belonging to the company. Sometimes these checks alone are not enough, as some scammers identify companies with inactive licenses, use their names, and somehow convince consumers to pay into personal IBANs. For this reason, you must definitely search for these companies on Google and check positive and negative reviews about them.

Reservation process directly with the facility

Bungalow businesses are usually sole proprietorships and are not LLCs or Joint Stock Companies like travel agencies. Bungalow businesses are not required to be members of TÜRSAB. Accommodation facilities obtain tourism business licenses from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and begin operations in this manner. Many scammers claim to be bungalows and share fake TÜRSAB certificates that appear to be issued under the same bungalow name. Do not believe them. If you remain skeptical about the bungalows, you can request a video call with the facility.

Now let's look at the methods most frequently used by scammers with examples.

Many scammers' Instagram pages lack depth, and almost all posts are shared within just 2 or 3 days.

This post contains more than one error. The video shared in the post does not belong to a bungalow but to a hotel room; specifically, it is a video from a hotel in Çamlıhemşin Fırtına Valley.

When we look at our own company Holitera's Instagram, we see that the first post was made in 2018 and that the content is carefully prepared. We notice that our company name is used not only in the username but also in the hashtags. 

Continuing with our account, when we look further, we see that the same account also has websites. 

When we enter the site, we see many mistakes here. First, none of the visuals shown on the site belong to the Rize region. Second, it is impossible to find a bungalow with these features at the listed prices. If a bungalow in one place is offered for 3500 TL while an identical or similar bungalow elsewhere is offered for 1500-1700 TL, especially with promises of extra discounts like 20% if you pay the full amount upfront, you should stay away from such offers.

Let's continue examining our site.

If we scroll down and click on the TÜRSAB digital verification page, a bright red warning page appears. Normally, it should state that the website is verified by TÜRSAB, as it is for Holitera.

When we query it, a travel agency from Ankara appears. It seems these individuals have no connection to this agency. However, when we visit the agency's approved villa site, we see that the agency's villa site has been copied exactly and published at half the price. 

Finally, let's conclude by adding the complaints and reviews we have collected on Şikayetvar.