British police arrested a man and woman in London on as part of a wide-ranging investigation into holiday Web site fraud that had victimized nearly 3,000, a Reuters report said.
The report, quoting the Metropolitan Police, said the woman in her 30s and the man in his 60s were detained at separate addresses in London and were being questioned by fraud squad officers.
The fake Web sites, sunmedresorts.com, unbeatableholidays.com, holidaydaysforunder200pounds.com, holidayrez.com and holidayez.com were all used in the con, the report said.
The fraud worked by enticing people to buy non-existent holidays and then disappearing with the cash, the report added.
The Association of British Travel Agents had warned people to be careful about buying trips online.
The organization advised people to check its own Web site or that of other affiliated organizations like Air Travel Organisers' Licensing to make sure any holiday firm was bona fide, the Reuters report said.
The report further said the Metropolitan Police, the Fraud Squad and the Office of Fair Trading were all investigating the scam, which was thought to have netted hundreds of thousands of pounds.