Fraudulent Ski Sites | Welove2ski
Ski Holiday

What You Should Know About The Fraudulent Ski Websites

Anyone wanting to book a luxury ski chalet this winter now has to run the gauntlet of a rash of bogus websites.
Fraudulent Ski Sites | Welove2ski
What could be nicer than spending a week in a gorgeous chalet? Photo: © Consensio.

Anyone wanting to book a luxury ski chalet this winter now has to run the gauntlet of a rash of bogus internet sites that are netting fraudsters hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

Last winter, a number of heartbroken families arrived in the big-name Alpine resorts on peak season dates to discover that they had paid a small fortune for expensive chalet accommodation that was either not available or simply didn’t exist. 

While this was tragic, it involved a relatively small number of victims. However, in advance of this winter, fraudsters have become even more sophisticated. They use Live Chat to groom their customers and social media to create online profiles for their sites that can even match those of their genuine rivals. 

Just by writing about the bogus holiday suppliers and revealing their addresses, I am in danger of fuelling their presence and importance online. Each person who then passes on one of these links to a fraudulent site, albeit warning others against them, risks enhancing the status of the site on Google. It is a virus that’s already morphed into an epidemic and Google, facebook et al are doing nothing to curtail it. 

Here are a couple of the worst offenders. Please don’t create a hyperlink to them from your own blog, website or social media. Copy and paste their URLs into your browser if you wish to visit. 

Fraudulent Ski Chalets | Welove2ski
Home page of one of the fraudulent luxury chalet agencies.

Premiumswisschalets dot com has a Swiss phone number, but their address, strangely, is in Latvia. ‘Reserve your chalet for the upcoming winter,’ states the home page, which clicks through to a huge choice of five-star chalets in Switzerland and France, complete with enticing photos.

Each chalet, claims the website, has been ‘professionally inspected – our properties won’t leave you with unwelcome surprises’. Oh yes, they will, if you attempt to rent one.  

The fraudsters use genuine descriptions of the chalets and, even to someone experienced in the travel industry, it all looks utterly convincing. But the first clue is availability: your chosen chalet appears to be always available on the date you choose, regardless of length of stay. Once you’ve made contact with the site you’ll be pressed to complete the booking and pay immediately,

Cheekily they boast: ‘With over 10 years of experience in dealing with the luxury chalet market, we are perfectly placed and equipped to provide you the best chalets available. We have very close relationships with the owners of the chalets and that’s how we get the best price’. No, they don’t.

Fraudulent Ski Sites | Welove2ski
Le Kilimanjaro. Photo: © Chardon Mountain Lodges.

Take, for example, Kilimanjaro, a chalet sleeping 10 in Val d’Isere. We know that this sumptuous catered holiday home is part of Le Chardon Mountain Lodges, owned and run by a family from Edinburgh. 

In reality, only Christmas and a handful of low season dates are still available for this coming winter. It’s sold by the week in its entirety, and not by the room or night. Real prices range from £9,950 in November and April to £32,500 on December 20. 

On Premium Swiss Chalets it’s available in its entirety, at any time in the season, with prices from 1120€ per night, and with free airport transfers thrown in. 

Lewis McKay, Le Chardon’s sales and marketing manager, contacted the site. ‘VIP Client Manager Anna Brice’ offered him January 12-17 for 8800€, including free airport transfers. 

When he protested that she was actually trying to sell him his own chalet, she cheekily replied: “There is nothing illegal until you’d have paid money, so chill out, my friend. No one has been ripped off!”  

Lewis commented: “Yes, they have – it’s conspiracy to defraud. I am absolutely disgusted and I am reporting them to the police and trading standards. What we need to do is to get these sites taken down”. 

Fraudulent Ski Sites | Welove2ski
‘Chalet Imma’ from fraudulent Rich Huts.

Richhuts dot com is another fraud site offering a whole range of Alpine chalets, also looking like the real thing. It has a UK address and phone number, having apparently ‘borrowed’ a genuine company in Edinburgh. Their website is registered in Panama. 

One problem the fraudsters face is that a prospective client may well Google the chalet name before booking and discover a genuine website. Rich Huts simply makes up a new name. 

Take Shemshak Lodge in Courchevel 1850, one of the best-known superchalets in the resort, run by Consensio. Rich Huts has it on their site under the fictitious name ‘Chalet Imma’. Google this and it will come up as No.1, with a link – surprise, surprise – to Richhuts dot com. In reality, only three weeks remain available for Shemshak at a price of £15,500 to £43,500. Yet Rich Huts offers ‘Chalet Imma’ from 1500€ a night with availability in every month of the season. 

Ceri Tinley, managing director of Consensio commented: “My main concern as a chalet operator about these sites is their ability to con guests out of money. They have gone to such lengths to make their websites look so real and convincing. It is really very difficult to tell the difference between them and real ski travel agents. 

Fraudulent Ski Sites | Welove2ski
Shemshak Lodge in Courchevel. Photo: © Consensio.

“Rich Huts, which have our Chalet Shemshak listed as ‘Chalet Imma’, are purporting to be a proper registered UK company. However, I contacted the lady who owns the real company AC&H 243 who had no idea her company information/number was being used to con chalet guests”.

Andy Castle of travel agency Ski In Luxury and sister company Ultimate Luxury Chalets, has made a study of these scam sites. He commented: “I’m convinced that the main ones are all run by the same guy. They have got increasingly sophisticated and it is causing increasing concern that trust in websites such as ours might be compromised.”

For pointers on how to spot a rogue website, make sure you read Andy’s detailed blog

Our Tips

If you want to book a luxury chalet, then either go direct through the chalet operators themselves, or through one of the many reputable agencies. These include Kings Avenue, Ski In Luxury, Ski Solutions, Alpine Luxury Chalets, Ultimate Luxury Chalets, Oxford Ski Company, Firefly, Summers & Winters, Alpine Answers, A&K Villas, and Interactive Resorts.

About the author

Peter Hardy

An editor at Welove2ski, Peter is also writes about skiing for The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail. He first put on skis as a child on a family holiday, and has since been to some 500 resorts around the world.

8 Comments

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  • One of the complications is that many of the legitimate owners/operators/agents for properties being offered by scam sites are not themselves bonded or operating trust accounts.

    This creates a challenge for skiers; they can google away until their heart’s content but may not find the chalet listed anywhere with an ATOL, ABTOT, ABTA, TTA or similar stamp of approval.

    For complete peace of mind always book with a bonded operator. Above all else, remember the adage that if it looks too good to be true it probably is!

  • This is true. Various legit operators have gone bust over the years having taken people’s money before delivering the holiday. ATOL bonding is the only complete certainty – just check the CAA website to ensure the bonding is actually legitimate – if these bogus sites can ‘borrow’ a chalet image, they can ‘borrow’ an ATOL logo!

  • PERDANA CHALETS

    Hello, How do you know it is fake? they even send their registration
    Perdana Consultancy Ltd. [mailto:booking@perdanachalets.com]
    Simon Brink
    Travel Specialist
    Perdana Consultancy Ltd.
    6 Redheughs Rigg
    Edinburgh EH12 9DQ
    United Kingdom
    +44 131 618 796
    booking@perdanachalets.com

    their answer:

    We are a reputable travel agent that is in business for 6 and a half years now, our reputation is very important to us.

    Please feel free to verify our company credentials here:

    https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC397892

    Company name: Perdana Consultancy Ltd.
    Company Number: SC397892

    Kindly let us know if you have further insecurities about us.

    • Oxford Ski Company, which is highly reputable travel agency for luxury chalets, lists it as a scam site. I have removed Perdana’s web address from your comment. When in doubt, please check with a decent UK-based agency such Oxford Ski Company or Ski in Luxury.

  • beautiful place and really wonderful sites.
    At A-List Villas & Chalets, in Courchevel 1850, we trust that the most successful holiday, is a customized one, given the fact that your taste is what matters when choosing an accomodation, it just happens that all our chalets meet all your expectations and tastes, we have the most luxurious and well custom designed vacation villas and villas that will make your vacation both perfect and very satisfying

  • This is really great. Thanks a lot fir sharing in detailed way. I used to go on ski holiday every year and this info is really helpful for me. very impressive.