WAT’s The Story: Berni Campbell issues warning over holiday home scam

By Michael Devlin and podcast by James Kelly

A LOCAL lady who fell victim to a holiday home scam has warned that the fraudster responsible is still swindling people out of money – despite the crime being reported to the relevant authorities.

Berni Campbell, who lives in Strabane but works in Omagh, is this week urging people to be super-vigilant when it comes to making bookings ahead of the holiday season. She believes that more than 30 people have been conned in the same way so far.

Back in March, Berni believed she was renting a stunning house in Bunbeg for two weeks in the summer and to that end, handed over a £200 deposit – only to later discover the whole thing was a scam.

“We had a difficult year last year,” Berni admitted. “I lost my dad and four other family members. I wanted to take my mum away for a break. At the beginning of March, I saw a holiday advertised on Facebook. It looked fabulous, and I contacted the owner and he came back to me. Myself and my husband spoke to him on the phone.

“He was very genuine – or sounded very genuine, I should say.”

She continued, “He really did sell it to us. We were on the phone for about half an hour. After half an hour of a discussion, he vetted us out to make sure we weren’t teenagers coming to wreck the place.”

Believing all was above board, Berni paid the deposit, but only later found out that the house she had paid for didn’t exist in Bunbeg. The actual house in the photos was one in Rossnowlagh, and it had nothing to do with the shyster selling fictional rentals.

Berni continued, “After we had hung up the phone, he sent me a text to say this was my girlfriend’s email address, and that she had asked to pay via PayPal through ‘friends and family’.”

That option meant that PayPal wouldn’t receive a commission, but it also meant that Berni couldn’t claim her money back if something went wrong.

“I know that he’s still doing this, which is why it’s important to bring it to everyone’s attention,” Berni remarked. “It’s not even about the money now; it’s about knowing about him preying on people. I’m still fuming, to be honest. I’ve been in contact with other people who were scammed, and we have all reported it to Facebook, Paypal and the gards. I’ve also been on to the PSNI, but it’s still happening.

“My friend actually contacted this man today (Tuesday) and he was like, ‘yeah, dates available’. The thing is, he’s so believable.”

The man responsible for the scam had been going by the name of Conor O’Toole or Conor O’Tole. Another person associated is Caroline O’Toole.

“As far as I know, 30 people have come forward since this started, to say they’ve been scammed,” Berni continued. “He’s making money out of people, and it’s just so sad.”

Ironically, after Berni posted warnings on social media about the house for rent being a scam, Facebook withdrew the posts.