Scammed tourists begin class action Conned out of a Miami stay: Laura Lassig. Australian holidaymakers are pursuing a class action lawsuit against one of the world's largest banks after hundreds of false accounts were used in an international travel scam. Over the past 18 months, tourists have wired millions of dollars into accounts with London-based Barclays Bank to pay for luxury accommodation in dream destinations around the world. The vacations are booked through popular holiday rental websites including HomeAway and FlipKey, which is mostly owned by TripAdvisor. However, the Barclays Bank accounts are run by criminals who, after hacking the sites and "phishing" the original email inquiry, assume the identity of the property owner and steer customers into making bogus bookings. Truth unravelled: Fiona Melia. Photo: Liz McCormick The internet is awash with blogs and forums where victims recount how they booked holiday accommodation and travelled overseas, only to discover the property owner had never heard of them. In the past 12 months, Australians have become a prime target. While some have been left stranded in Miami, Florida and Paris, it is the luxury Balinese villas closer to home that are proving the most popular bait. Fairfax Media can reveal that a group of Australian victims and Bali villa owners has enlisted London-based law firm Edwin Coe - which has successfully tackled one of the world's largest banks in other group actions - to commence a legal action against Barclays Bank. Lost $1600: Mark Painter, left, and Hannah Campbell-Pegg. Beth King, from Victoria, who owns a holiday rental villa in Seminyak, Bali, said: "With their sophisticated hacking skills and inside knowledge of travellers' booking behaviour, these scammers are trapping people daily. This could all end tomorrow, if Barclays met its legal obligations and vetted the identity of account holders. Nick Hyam, another Seminyak villa owner, said: "I've had my identity cloned five times so far - and each time I contact Barclays, I hit a wall of indifference. This has affected hundreds of travellers. We are gathering documentation and a class action suit will be filed. On Saturday, a Barclays Bank spokesman said the company "complies with all regulatory requirements." "When we are made aware of inappropriate conduct on accounts, we immediately investigate and take the necessary steps to close them," he said. Former two-time Winter Olympian Hannah Campbell-Pegg was one of dozens of victims to contact Fairfax Media after last week's report on the scam. She presumed she had been dealing with the Australian owner of a luxury villa in Canggu, Bali, a fortnight ago, but it was an impostor who had intercepted their communications. Ms Campbell-Pegg, 30, said: "I booked through FlipKey. After reading the article, I became sceptical because I also transferred payment into a Barclays account in London. She added: "I contacted the owner, only to discover I had not been dealing with her. It seems her reply to my original email never made it through to me. It was intercepted by the scammer who then posed as her and sent one of his own ... I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Yes, I lost $1600 but we were taking my partner's daughter on her first big trip overseas. Like countless others, we could so easily have arrived at the villa, only to discover we had nowhere to stay. Criminals previously ran the scam using dozens of accounts opened through another Britain-based bank, Lloyds. The bank subsequently tightened its identification process. The scammers then began swarming Barclays branches across London, starting some 18 months ago. Money continues to pour in from around the globe. Last November, Jennifer Bobyk, from Sydney, booked a three-month stay in Chiang Mai, Thailand, through online travel site TripAdvisor, forwarding a $2000 cash transfer via Barclays. We took a taxi to the estate but the owner said she had not received the booking or the money. When I Googled the address of the account holder (in England), it was a house for sale. I contacted TripAdvisor, our bank and the ACCC. Nobody was interested. Fiona Melia, from Merimbula on the NSW south coast, parted with $2900 in February to book a luxury villa in Seminyak, where she was due to arrive next week. When the property owner recently contacted her to ask whether she was still interested in staying, the truth unravelled. The scammer intercepted my email, then acted as the owner. He replied to all my individual emails about particulars like breakfast. Everything appeared normal. The Barclays spokesman said the bank regularly provides advice to help customers avoid fraud, including "using reputable third-party payment processing sites rather than making a direct transfer to the seller's bank account." FlipKey failed to respond to questions from Fairfax Media but HomeAway, which lists more than a 1000 privately owned rental villas and apartments in Bali alone, said it had launched a "massive education effort" and a basic rental guarantee which reimburses phishing victims up to $1000. General manager James Cassidy advised travellers to always "call the owner before they send any money, to confirm their reservation." Victims of the scam open up: Anna Jaques, Sydney: "My 21-year-old daughter Laura rented a condo in Miami advertised via Vacation Rentals [a subsidiary of HomeAway]. This was her first trip away from home after completing school. She rang me in hysterics. When she arrived in March, she was told by the manager she had been scammed. The scammer had intercepted communications between vacation rentals and himself, subsequently taking his name to conduct business. She is still travelling the US. I have filed a fraud complaint with the ACCC and Barclays Bank, London. I've heard nothing. Nicole Leighton, Sydney: "We booked and paid for a villa in Ubud, Bali, for seven nights (in March). The villa owner had no record of our booking ... he had had four other cases. He helped us contact Barclays Bank. Barclays simply said 'thanks for the call' and advised us if we wanted our money back, we would have to hire a lawyer to do so. Jon Jones: owner of Villa Amrita, Ubud, Bali: "The latest person who believed he was coming to stay with us arrived Wednesday. I have been trying to speak to Barclays since January. I told them, 'look at the pattern. You have a bunch of accounts receiving wires from all over the world. They wouldn't even let me submit any documentary evidence to demonstrate what's happening. They don' t want to know. Robyn Graham, Melbourne: "We sent through a request on HomeAway.com and began email exchanges with the 'owner' of a luxury villa in Bali. We were sent a rental agreement and paid £950 into an English Barclays account. We were due to arrive this Tuesday. But we became suspicious when we had to chase the owner to make sure the money had gone through. When we Googled the name attached to the bank account, pages of scams appeared. He had done the same to people around the world. The most horrible part is, a renowned website put us in direct touch with him. Their response, to date, has been appalling. Nicole Harding: "In January 2013 I sent a booking request through HomeAway.com requesting availability of dates in October for Villa Zara in Bali. I transferred $2025 to Barclays as payment for the accommodation on February 27, 2013, after numerous emails back and forth between myself and 'Paul' confirming dates. As Paul never replied, I did a Google search and found ... sites advising of the scam. Full statement by Barclays Bank Barclays can confirm that in opening and managing accounts, it complies with all regulatory requirements including in respect of identification and verification. When we are made aware of inappropriate conduct on accounts, we will immediately investigate and take the necessary steps to close them. "We recognise that some consumers" interests have been damaged as a result of the conduct of some customers and that money has been lost. Regrettably, we are unable to provide any refund for individuals who lost money before we were made aware of the situation. We regularly give advice to our customers to help them to avoid this type of fraud for example by using reputable third party payment processing sites rather than making a direct transfer to the seller's bank account. Victims are encouraged to contact: vacationrentalscamvictims@yahoo.com