'We booked a £99 stargazing break - all we got was an empty field'

When Samantha Cook booked a astonishment interruption for herself and her fiancé, she was looking guardant to a nighttime of escapism from her "relentless" enactment schedule.

Scrolling done section glamping sites, an eye-catching £99 "stargazing dome" woody offered a futuristic pod with a transparent canopy and breathtaking views of twinkling North Yorkshire skies.

The events manager and mother-of-one promptly received booking confirmation messages from a steadfast called Star Domes, on with a cardinal codification and an code successful the tiny colony of Knayton.

All acceptable for their antithetic getaway, Samantha arranged childcare and acceptable disconnected from adjacent Malton with spouse Ryan Swain.

Nearing their destination, the excited mates were incapable to find the dome and Samantha pulled up to a pub to inquire for directions to what she assumed would beryllium a section landmark.

Instead, the radical successful the pub apologised and told her she had been scammed.

"I was devastated, I burst retired crying due to the fact that I had Ryan successful the car," the 39-year-old said.

"It was our past play until New Year that we had a afloat play unneurotic without work, truthful it was a spot gutting."

Samantha, who is pregnant, and Ryan are victims of a scam website which has near dozens of radical looking astatine an bare farmer's tract alternatively of views of the heavens.

"Sam was mortified, successful tears and heartbroken," Ryan, 34, said.

"The website, looking backmost connected it, looked truly authentic and legitimate.

"Everything was successful spot and past evidently erstwhile you enactment the postcode in, it takes you somewhere."

Farmer Julian Potter is utilized to mystified holidaymakers turning up to 1 of his fields aft encountering astir 30 successful the past six months.

"The effect connected maine is negligible but these mediocre radical person travel up here," helium said.

"We had a mates who were coming present for their archetypal wedding anniversary, you could spot the excitement successful their eyes."

He continued: "Young families with kids, they person nary thought until they get present that they’ve mislaid their wealth and they’re not going to spell connected vacation - it’s perfectly heartbreaking."

Mr Potter said a adjacent caravan parkland and the section pub had besides had to interruption the atrocious quality to dozens of disappointed visitors.

He said the websites advertizing the domes often had insignificant spelling mistakes and lone seemed to run for a fewer days earlier disappearing and reappearing with a antithetic name.

"The constabulary conscionable can’t support up with putting them down," helium added.

The photos of the stargazing domes, oregon bubble tents arsenic they are really known, were snatched from a fashionable Airbnb destination successful Australia.

BBC News reached retired to the genuine vacation rental institution to pass them of the scam, who said they had reported the "frustrating and unfair" contented and had nary transportation to the problems successful the UK.

Janice Kirby is different unfortunate of the scam.

The 55-year-old from County Durham spotted the woody connected societal media and booked it immediately.

"I thought this would beryllium a bully alteration due to the fact that it was precise luxurious and looked gorgeous," Janice said.

"I didn’t deliberation immoderate much of it and past a mates of days later, I realised I didn’t person immoderate confirmation email."

Purely by chance, Janice stumbled crossed a station connected Facebook from Mr Potter's farm, informing radical astir the scam.

"I’d person been turning up astatine the play if I hadn't seen it," Janice said.

"I felt stupid. I ever thought I would ne'er autumn for thing similar that.

"It’s close what they say, if it looks excessively bully to beryllium existent past it astir apt is."

Looking back, Janice said determination had been signs the website was not legitimate.

"There was an 11:00 check-in and a 14:00 check-out the adjacent day. Normally it’s the different mode around," she said.

"I was implicit the satellite but reasoning logically, that would ne'er happen."

Janice's slope agreed to springiness her a afloat refund aft 2 payments were taken retired of her account.

Samantha and Ryan's slope besides returned their cash.

The BBC tried to interaction the radical down the prima dome breaks but has yet to person a reply.

Which? user adept Rob Lilley-Jones said specified scams were happening with "increasing frequency", with those down the cons utilizing caller technology.

"When large sums of wealth are progressive it is nary astonishment radical retired determination are going to effort and marque a speedy buck," helium said.

Mr Lilley-Jones added it was "really hard to constabulary scams similar this", claiming "thousands" were happening each day.

He said anyone who had been defrauded should interaction their slope earlier reporting it to the constabulary and Action Fraud, the nationalist reporting centre for fraud.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed it had received a study of the scam from the proprietor of a adjacent caravan and glamping site, which it had referred to Action Fraud.

A unit spokesperson said anyone who had been affected should study the scam.

They added that radical should treble cheque the address, look for interaction accusation and work the presumption and conditions erstwhile booking thing and handing implicit money.

Trust people labels and online reviews should besides beryllium verified from a fig of sources, the spokesperson said.

Samantha and Ryan said the website had faked Trustpilot-style reviews positive a booking calendar and different accepted signs of authenticity.

They told the BBC they were present little trusting of others.

"You go a unfortunate and you question your mundane life," Ryan said.

"I had radical doing things retired of the goodness of their bosom and I was asking if determination were ulterior motives.

"It affects everything, it’s not conscionable financial. It affects your intelligence health, it affects your spot and it affects your outlook connected life."

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