Irish holidaymakers are being swindled out of thousands of euro in Spain and Portugal by agreeing to sign contracts for bogus timeshares and "holiday clubs". The European Consumer Centre has opened 26 new cases in Ireland in the first four months of this year, involving losses of more than €100,000, according to a report published today.

Ms Tina Leonard of the European Consumer Centre said Irish holidaymakers were not alone in being misled by holiday club representatives, who will do and say anything to get credit-card details. "The typical holidaymakers targeted are married couples in their fifties from Northern Europe who hold a credit card," she said.

The report includes details of cases where Irish couples have lost between €3,800 and €19,000.

Holiday clubs purport to offer steep discounts on luxury holidays over a period of time while more traditional timeshare arrangements offer holiday weeks at a particular venue or venues over a number of years.

The cases which came to the attention of the European Consumer Centre begin with tourists being approached while on holiday by representatives (often of the same nationality) offering them great holiday opportunities if they agree to attend a presentation. The report states that target couples are offered vast amounts of food and drink and can find it difficult to leave the presentations.

Holiday club vendors offer a "free holiday with cash to spend" and the concept is presented as an investment. Aggressive marketing techniques are used and those who do sign up are often harassed for the balance payment when they arrive home.

During the presentation, unsubstantiated verbal claims are made in relation to the quality and the price of the holidays on offer together with the "free holidays" won on scratch cards. In many cases no brochure with the description of the holidays on offer is provided before a contract is entered into.

Many consumers reported that they felt intimidated at various stages of their dealings with the companies.

When duped "members" return home, they are confronted with the reality that the holidays they expected to take are unavailable. This can be because they never receive the brochure promised at the contract signing, or, if they do, their choice is always unavailable. Sometimes, the "free" or "very competitive" holidays are more expensive than those available on the high street.

All the holiday club contracts studied by the consumer centre are for 35 months to avoid being covered by the EU Timeshare Directive, which kicks in on contracts of three years or more.

There is no cooling-off period clause and people are given no choice other than to sign on the same day. Contracts do not contain withdrawal or cancellation clauses so no refunds of deposits can take place.

In all of the cases dealt with by the European Consumer Centre, individuals complained about heavy-handed communications. The company is in constant contact with the consumer until he or she pays the balance. After that the consumers' letters are ignored and telephone calls are not returned.

Individuals who have tried to withdraw from the contract have been subjected to a barrage of threatening letters requesting payment. The next step is the receipt of debt collection letters.

In a minority of cases, solutions have been found. The direct intervention of the European Consumer Centre in Barcelona and Lisbon secured the return of deposits to individuals in three cases. The intervention of the local authorities also assured the return of one deposit as did action taken by an MEP. Credit-card companies have returned deposits in three cases and the Irish Embassy in Madrid helped out in two cases.