Cesenatico, August 4, 2026 – Even yesterday in Cesenatico, families of tourists who had booked a vacation at a phantom residence located, according to online listings and platforms, in a building on Viale Pascoli, continued to arrive. But unfortunately, at the provided address, there are only offices and residences. More than 120 families have already been defrauded by a criminal organization that probably used a similar technique in Milano Marittima. These families come from various Italian provinces and also from abroad, many of whom were attracted by the possibility of spending holidays in the center of Cesenatico at very low rates.
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We are facing a real organization that has planned a criminal scheme in minute detail; they did everything online, they were able to forge documents, starting with the Cin which belong to other businesses
Among them, besides anger and despair, indignation is growing towards the online platforms that did not carry out adequate checks on the truthfulness of the proposed tourist offer. Meanwhile, to deal with the emergency, the municipal administration has set up a reception center and is providing assistance, together with the operators of Adac Federalberghi, to find alternative accommodation solutions. The president of the hoteliers Alfonso Maini said
: “We are organizing to help and find a solution, to enable those who wanted to spend a holiday in Cesenatico to do so.”
Matteo Gozzoli, mayor of Cesenatico, you are the son of hoteliers, how is it possible that a scam was carried out against hundreds of tourists, convinced by very low rates to book holidays in a residence that turned out to be non-existent?
“Evidently, we are facing a real organization that has planned a criminal scheme in minute detail; they did everything online, they were able to forge documents, starting with the Cin which belong to other businesses, they activated phone lines in the names of unaware people, in a fairly structured organization, as shown by the fact that bookings from August 1 onwards are numerous.”
Many point the finger at booking portals that do not adequately check, like Booking, which did not notice the contradiction of offering a residence on a street, Viale Pascoli, where there are only offices and residences.
“Indeed, many relied on Booking, but evidently, on the platform’s part, the necessary checks were not activated, as shown by the fact of having Cin that correspond to other structures and not to the phantom one on Via Pascoli.”
The criminals were very clever, what was the key to this large-scale scam?
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“The scammers were smart because they used the address of a building where there actually is accommodation with photos uploaded on real estate agencies and a registered short-term rental accommodation, with the regular plaque and number displayed outside, and on these two elements they devised the scam.”
As a municipal administration, what are you doing to address the problem of the many families who came to Cesenatico for a holiday and are now left without accommodation?
“Since the emergency broke out, we have activated the Tourist Information and Reception office to support the victims of the scam, we have opened all channels and, for some families coming from abroad, we have activated Civil Protection and are in direct contact with Adac Federalberghi and local agencies to relocate people without accommodation.”
The hoteliers and tourism operators of Cesenatico have mobilized: half of the defrauded families have already been helped to find accommodation.
“In this emergency, we have seen a great response from our operators of Adac Federalberghi and the Glamping company of Cesenatico Camping Village, which has made ten mobile homes available, from private individuals and nearby shopkeepers who actively support the defrauded families.”
Will the scammers, besides the tourist families, also have to answer for their behavior to the city of Cesenatico?
“The scam proceeds as a private complaint, but we, as the Municipality, have also taken action for a report to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as the city’s image is damaged. If there is a criminal proceeding, we will join as a civil party. We hope that in the coming days the necessary clarity will be provided by those responsible and that the culprits will be identified to bring them to justice.”
