38 SAGA.CO.UK/AUG-MAG^ I^2018
Given how much money the average person
spends on foreign travel these days – £1,253
per trip according to one survey – it’s no
surprise that holidaymakers are firmly
in the fraudsters’ sights.
According to Action Fraud, the agency
run by City of London police, holiday-
related cons cost UK travellers £6. 7 million
in 2017 , with around 5,000 people falling
victim. Fake package holidays, flights or
accommodation bookings were the most
common types of scam, but criminals also
targeted everything from car hire to hotel
room inspections. Here are some of the
newest or most pernicious scams, and what
you can do to avoid falling victim to them.SCAM 1
Fake accommodation listings
The rise in popularity of online short-term
rental platforms has increased the amount
of choice holidaymakers have when
booking accommodation. But the potential
downside is that the accommodation is
typically being offered by private
individuals – rather than companies –
whose credentials can be hard to verify.
While most of the major platforms do
their best to crack down on fake listings,
the risk of fraud is nonetheless very real.
Criminals can set up dummy accounts and
list accommodation that they have no
connection with – using photos and other
details from other websites, for example,
to make their listings appear genuine.
This type of con usually operates as
follows: someone will try to book
apparently genuine accommodation
through a web platform and the fraudster
will ask that person to pay them directly
via a bank transfer online rather than
through the platform’s own payment
system. This makes it much harder for the
platform to block suspicious transactions
or for the victim to claim a refund.
In many cases, the victim won’t realise
they’ve been duped until they arrive
at the apartment or villa they thought they
had booked. A British family lost £4,100
when the Sicilian villa they found lastsummer through Airbnb, but paid for
directly to the ‘owner’, turned out to have
been listed fraudulently.How to protect yourself
Being asked for a direct payment, especially
via online bank transfer, is a common theme
in fraud attempts. Never do it. The main
platforms urge customers to pay only
through their system, and this is the easiest
way to avoid being scammed. Another
warning sign: the property may not have
many reviews. But in some cases, criminals
can take over legitimate listings – which
may have many glowing reviews – by
stealing owners’ log-in details.SCAM 2
Hotel-based cons
UK authorities have warned recently of
a number of scams that target
holidaymakers staying in foreign hotels.
Most commonly, these involve criminals
impersonating hotel staff.
In one type of con, uniformed hotel staff
knock on a holidaymaker’s door and ask to
carry out an urgent inspection of the room’s
electrics or plumbing. But in fact, these
people are imposters and while one of them
appears to check the issue in question,
the other will attempt to steal valuables
or important travel documents.
In other cases, individuals receive a call
claiming to be from reception asking them
to confirm or re-submit their credit card
details. But in fact the call is made from
outside the hotel and is an attempt to steal
personal and banking details.How to protect yourself
If you are suspicious of hotel room staff
behaviour, ask them to wait outside the
room while you call reception to check
that the inspection is genuine.
In the event of you being asked for
credit or debit card details by phone,
say that you’ll call reception back with
the details in a few minutes, or you’ll
go to reception with the required
information when it’s next convenient.IN MANY
CASES, THE
VICTIM WON’T
REALISE
THEY’VE
BEEN DUPED
UNTIL THEY
ARRIVE AT THE
APARTMENT
OR VILLA
THEY THOUGHT
THEY HAD
BOOKED