Bungalow fraud complaints in Turkey surge 114 percent in one week

Bodrum-based tour operator Akın Beke said that with the summer season, fake listings and prepayment fraud cases have increased. According to Şikayetvar data, bungalow rental complaints rose 114 percent and hotel complaints 58 percent.

Scraper SystemJuly 09, 2026, 11:06 AM

Bungalow fraud complaints in Turkey surge 114 percent in one week

Bodrum-based tour operator and member of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB) Akın Beke said that with the start of the summer tourism season, there has been a sharp increase in fraud complaints regarding holiday reservations.

Beke noted that fraudsters become more active especially during the high season, saying, 'Tourists most often encounter fake accommodation listings and lose their money after making prepayments. Only reliable platforms and licensed tourism companies should be used.'

According to the expert, there has been a noticeable increase in recent weeks in complaints from tourists who encounter irregular practices in holiday arrangements. The most common method continues to be fake bungalow rental listings. Holidaymakers who pay for these listings are then unable to reach the listing owners.

Beke also reported that holidaymakers have complained about issues such as paid reservations not appearing in the hotel system, rooms being swapped for lower-comfort ones, additional fees demanded at check-in, problems with refunds, and deposit return problems with fake car rental listings.

According to data from the Turkish complaint platform Şikayetvar, bungalow rental fraud complaints increased by 114 percent in the last week. Complaints about chain hotels rose 58 percent, car rental fraud complaints 46 percent, complaints about hotel booking sites 45 percent, and intercity bus transportation complaints 23 percent.