'I wonder how they sleep at night'

By Giancarlo Rinaldi
South of Scotland reporter, BBC Scotland news website

The Smiths handed over £500 on their Spanish holiday

The scam started as soon as the Smith family from the Scottish Borders got off the bus in Fuengirola in July.

They were offered a scratchcard by someone showing them his permit to carry out the promotion.

It came up showing they had won a star prize.

From the comfort of their Galashiels home they say they wish they had just walked away but, instead, their polite nature got the better of them.

"We decided that we would just forget it - but we went back to say we were not interested," said Norman Smith.

I never slept after that - I woke up in the middle of the night thinking 'what have we done?' Audrey Smith

"Then he gave us a sob story how he got so much for sending people - we felt sorry for the guy," he added.

So, instead of turning their backs the couple and their two daughters attended a "short presentation" about a holiday club membership.

It ended up lasting more than five hours.

"The girls were taken away to play," said Mr Smith.

"They had it all sussed - they had them well entertained."

At first the couple were offered a £3,000 membership but every time they turned it down the figure was reduced and a new offer produced.

The family from the Borders were on holiday in Fuengirola

"We were there for more than five hours and on three different occasions we decided we were not wanting it," explained Audrey Smith.

"They just kept coming back with different offers and different scenarios of how it was going to work."

In the end, as Mr Smith put it, they decided "Let's just pay the deposit and get away".

Their £500 was supposedly towards membership of an exclusive holiday club - entitling members to five-star accommodation and unlimited holidays per year at vastly reduced prices.

There was even a cash back promise after five years.

But Mrs Smith had her reservations the moment they put pen to paper.

You have got to be hard and say, look, we are not interested and just walk away Norman Smith

"I never slept after that - I woke up in the middle of the night thinking 'what have we done?'" she said.

"We were more annoyed with ourselves that you could actually be taken in."

They attempted to go back and have the paperwork destroyed but to no avail.

And when they got home and searched for the company on the internet they were directed to the BBC's Watchdog website.

"It is scary the amount of people that have been conned and the amount of money that has been taken," said Mr Smith.

"They are still doing it, we keep looking at the Watchdog site, there are still people paying out money for membership.

"I wonder how they sleep at night, telling all these lies and conning people - they are very, very good at it," added Mrs Smith.

They have simple advice for anyone else who finds themselves in their situation.

"You have got to be hard and say, look, we are not interested and just walk away," said Mr Smith.