U.K. citizens warn of fraudulent company

WINDERMERE – A group of concerned British citizens who have fallen victim to internet fraud perpetrated by a company called Pro Time Tours Inc. is working together to thwart an alleged con artist who lives in Windermere.

The group comprises citizens who had the misfortune of handing over thousands of dollars to purchase music or sports tickets from the company’s website. 

One individual from the group, Peter Zaffiro, of Bristol, United Kingdom, lost $1,371 while attempting to buy tickets to watch a rugby match between the British and Irish Lions that would take place in New Zealand. After complications arose with payment, Zaffiro was instructed by a company representative via email to send the money for the tickets through a wire transfer to an account with APS bank.

Zaffiro complied and was told his tickets would arrive soon. But the tickets never came — despite constant assurances from the company representative over several months that the tickets would eventually arrive. In the end, Zaffiro never received the tickets and realized he had been scammed. 

Zaffiro has since taken efforts to follow up with British police, and he and several others have filed consumer complaints with the Orange County Consumer Fraud Unit and relayed their experience to the Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that I will not see any monies back,” Zaffiro said. “I am not doing this for a refund or as sob story. … I would like the authorities to catch these criminals and prosecute them so others are not scammed out of their hard-earned monies. It is too easy for these criminals to get away with this sort of crime and they know it, as not many people chase them as they feel embarrassed or ashamed that they have been conned and they would rather not say anything.”

Zaffiro and others in the group also have traced the whereabouts of the individual listed as the owner of Pro Time Tours, Anthony Koukoullis.

“Pro Time Tours is a scam company, set up to con anyone and everyone they can out of money,” Zaffiro said. “In the U.S., they sell luxury holidays and adventures. In the U.K., sports and concert tickets. They feed off the fact that people want these things and know they are difficult to get ahold of. The main person running this scam was convicted here in the U.K.”

The company is listed on Sunbiz.org as having filed a change of address Jan. 10, 2017, shortly after having filed an annual report dated Oct. 24, 2016. The address change for the company owner, Koukoullis, is in Windermere. The physical mailing address is 5401 S. Kirkman Road, Orlando.

To date, British police in Hertfordshire County identified 32 individuals verified to have fallen victim to the company’s scam and one individual in the United States, Zaffiro said.

On Trustpilot.com, a Denmark-based site that publishes reviews of online businesses, the company currently has a one-star rating and a long list of negative reviews complaining that tickets bought from the site never arrived.

“My only regret is that we here in the U.K. allowed these people running this scam to leave our shores and settle in the U.S.,” he said. “For this, I apologize, as it’s an export we could do without.”

Attempts to reach Koukoullis and Pro Time Tours were unsuccessful by press time.