The holiday season is fast approaching. But how can you avoid holiday scams? Last year, over 5,000 holidaymakers lost an average £1,380 per person to holiday and travel related fraud.
Here are a few ways you can avoid getting ripped-off whilst on holiday & before you get there !
Look through the menu before you order
You really don’t want this happening to you…
Pay safely
Pay by credit card whenever you can as this gives you extra protection & be very careful if asked to pay directly into a private individual’s bank account
Check any invoices & receipts carefully as well as terms & conditions.
Make sure the booking website is legit
Fake and phishing websites often contain broken English, spelling or grammar mistakes. Check also that the images fit the meaning and purpose of the site.
Never enter personal information into a website that has a web address that does not start with “https://” and a padlock shown next to it.
Check out the phone number. Is there one? A missing or mobile number could be dodgy. Check out the number’s history online by using sites like WhoCallsMe.
Check reviews
Look for dirt by checking out the booking site (hotel, restaurant etc…) at one or more of these review websites: ReviewCentre, Trustpilot and Tripadvisor.
If something does go wrong…
If possible, make sure you book through an ABTA member because they’ll help you out if there is a problem. But watch out for sites pretending to be ABTA members by using a fake logo – here’s a list. Finally, if you are a victim of fraud or a scam, report it to Action Fraud.
As the old saying goes… if it sounds too good to be true… it normally is!