Chris and Annia Pegg were excited when they found a beautiful villa in the South of France (pictured centre) for their annual two-week break with daughters Jessica, nine, and Emily, seven (pictured together left). But they were later devastated to discover that the £1,650 they thought they had paid to the villa's owner via website Owners Direct had in fact gone to a fraudster. Fortunately the couple, who lost £1,000 in the scam, were still able to afford to go on holiday - to a pretty French farmhouse (pictured right) that they also booked through the website. The Peggs are not alone, it is thought hackers may have stolen more than £25 million from holidaymakers — hundreds or even thousands believed to be British — in the past five years. And victims believe that the police are doing little about the widespread problem.
