Doncaster holidaymaker loses more than £1,600 in Tenerife laptop and tablet scam

Andy Evans, 64, is one of a string of British tourists targeted by the island’s rogue traders in a long-running scam which sees people on the last day of their holiday a great deal on a laptop, iPad, phone or a similar device.

But when it comes to payment via debit or credit card, the store owners distract the buyers while they either clone their card or charge a far higher fee than agreed.

Mr Evans lost a staggering £1,676 last year after buying what he thought was a £14.50 upgrade for his device - and his bank has still not refunded him.

He told MailOnline: “I find it absolutely abhorrent. It has haunted me this last year and I hate to think this group are still getting away with it.”

Mr Evans was enjoying a drink at a bar with his wife in the resort of Los Cristianos when they decided to buy some t-shirts and souvenirs for their grandchildren.

The former businessman said they went to the shop next door, where they were approached by the owner, who also happened to own the adjacent bar.

'He struck up a conversation and was asking us about property and tobacco and all of this before he eventually said he had tablets for sale at a great price,' he said.

Mr Evans said he paid for the tablet with €50 cash before the store's 'software engineer' approached him and insisted it should be upgraded with a subscription package that would allow them to watch UK television while abroad.

'It was only €14.50 per month and I could cancel it at anytime so I thought nothing of it,' he added. But when Mr Evans put in his PIN to pay for the amount, the merchant said they were having 'internet problems'.

'He took the machine away and was waving it around as if he was trying to get it connected to the internet, and I think it was then that they cloned my card,' Mr Evans said.

He added that the men then drove him to another string of stores they owned in nearby Puerto Colon, where he made a successful payment of €14.50.

Mr Evans said he viewed his account when he returned to the UK and saw the sum of £1.678.76 as pending, prompting an urgent call to his bank Halifax to ask them to stop the payment.

Mr Evans added: 'I was informed by the bank, after several conversations that they could not stop the payment as I was present at the time of the transaction and it would be word against word.'

He said they put him through to the Lloyds fraud department, who told him the same thing.

He added: 'As you can imagine, I am still fuming about this and sorry to hear that this team is still at it.'

Mr Evans believes the scammers use the bar adjacent to their store to scout for unsuspecting victims and to gauge who is on the final day of their holiday.

MailOnline contacted Lloyds Banking Group for comment. A spokesperson said they would reassess Mr Evans's case.