Festive Season Travel Scams

It is the time of the year where everybody wants to relax and unwind and spoil their families by treating them to a vacation, or so it may seem. Now is the perfect time for scammers to get to work on the unvigilant masses heading off to all sorts of destinations locally and abroad. This could include false resorts advertising as legitimate entities getting you to pay for non-existent accommodation or even phishing links advertised as travel agencies offering ridiculous deals. Some scammers would even pose as charity organisations requiring to take underprivileged children to the coast or any other destination by utilising social engineering and emotional blackmail which many people fall victim to this specific fraud. Other festive frauds may include by hotels/guest houses advertising their locations falsely claiming to be near beaches and so forth whereas this is far from the case and they do exist but are located nowhere near such amenities. Airport shuttles can also rip off their customers by overcharging them by approaching them at the last minute.

          STEPS TO BE TAKEN

• Always validate the website by inspecting the URL and DNS.
• Do your research on any establishment before booking travel arrangements and always be wary of lucrative airfare deals. If it sounds too good to be true it most likely is.
• Always be aware of what offers are available to get a good deal for your money and not be swindled into paying for a rundown property while your cash gets taken.
• Avoid suspicious links from unknown entities, chances are they are phishing for your credit card details and identification number to commit fraud with, only to find out that you have been duped into registering online to a non-existent address.
• Always use google maps to verify the location of such establishments before making further arrangements in addition to conducting thorough research.
• While it is advisable to look at ratings and feedback from previous customers always bear in mind that such strategies are utilised by scammers to goad potential victims into making a harmless transaction.