Owner VERIFICATION scheme on the BBC
On Saturday 2nd October our identity verification scheme was used as a shining example by BBC Breakfast of how holiday rental portals can effectively tackle the issue of homeowner identity fraud.
By pureholidayhomes.com | Published 4th October, 2010
Throughout the summer there has been a significant rise in instances of homeowner identity fraud, as officially recognised by the City of London’s economic crime department on 9th September 2010. As pureholidayhomes.com was the world’s first holiday rental portal to effectively instigate a scheme to combat this issue at the root of the problem, we were asked by the BBC to provide details on how we verify our homeowners and therefore protect the thousands of holidaymakers that visit our site each day.
At present, there are no direct from owner rental websites that officially verify the identity of the registered owners and on occasion, this can lead to instances of fraud where supposed owners operate under a false identity.
To combat this issue, pureholidayhomes.com has partnered with leading identity authorisation company GB Group and implemented their URU identification system, meaning customers can book holidays with confidence, knowing the people they deal with are not operating under a false identity.
As a result, fraudsters who copy existing property adverts or create new false adverts, as described by our Joint CEO Sean Collins on BBC Breakfast, will not pass our thorough identity checks which cross reference five national and international databases.
How can you book a holiday home with confidence?
Look out for the badge! Owners who have been through our strict verification process have an ID VERIFIED badge inserted on our search listings page and on the property adverts themselves, indicating the holidaymakers can be reassured when renting their property.
