Woman is furious after paying for a hotel room with a sea view… and discovers a brazen scam (but can you spot it?)
A holidaymaker was left furious after she paid for a hotel room with a sea view only to discover she had fallen for a blatant scam.
Influencer Clarisa Murgia paid top dollar for the room because of the spectacular views it offered in the advert, as part of a holiday of a lifetime across Europe.
But when she arrived at the hotel and was taken to her room, she quickly discovered that the breathtaking view from the balcony of the blue sea, a sailboat and a mountain range was not what it seemed.
At first glance, Clarisa Murgia’s balcony seemed to offer a beautiful view of the sea
Instead, there was a giant poster of the sea taped to the wall of the building outside her window, and the sea view was one big bummer.
While filming the scene, Clarisa showed how the poster looked exactly like the real thing from one angle.
But when she looks to the side, you see that on the other side of a dirty alley there is a huge statue.
The real view consists of a crumbling white wall and rows of white-barred windows.
On May 18, she shared a video of the massive scam on TikTok in a clip titled “Expectation vs. Reality.”
Argentinian national Calrisa added: ‘Someone rented a B&B with a sea view. I feel ripped off, guys.
‘No one has ever cheated on me like that, hahaha.’
The video quickly amassed over 2.5 million views, with viewers panicking at her plight.
One TikTok user said, “That’s why I always look at the location so I don’t fail.”
Another commented: ‘Even my ex didn’t lie that much.’
And a third added: ‘My happiness in life is summed up in this video.’
But on closer inspection, the ‘view’ comes from a giant poster hanging on the side of a building opposite the holidaymaker’s hotel room.
The giant image of the coast can be seen on a crumbling wall, next to a barred window
The brazen scam comes after holidaymakers blasted Booking.com last month, accusing the platform of failing to crack down on ‘terrible’ scammers who have duped customers through the official app.
The scammers pose as hotels where they have booked a room and try to get travelers to hand over their bank details, claiming that they must pay immediately or lose their booking.
One family had to cancel their dream holiday to Thailand after being scammed out of £465 by fraudsters and unable to get a refund from Booking.com, the hotel or their bank.
Another victim had almost £1,200 stolen from her account by scammers who tricked her into thinking she was in contact with a hotel where she had made a booking.
Booking.com told MailOnline that its systems ‘have not been hacked’ but that some accommodation partners have been targeted with ‘highly convincing and sophisticated phishing tactics’.
