How To Avoid Travel Related Fraud

Booking a holiday with a travel company only to find it doesn’t exist, and therefore being scammed out of a lot of money you might not be able to replace, is something unsuspecting traveler’s fall into from time to time. Not only that, but in a lot of cases of travel-related fraud, the holidaymaker then can’t afford a replacement holiday.

However, when you’re well equipped and prepared with vigilance, it’s something that can be easily avoided. Here we will go through the different types of travel-related fraud and how you, the traveler, can avoid them.

What is Travel Related Fraud?

Travel-related fraud, put simply, is when a traveller pays money for a holiday, accommodation, or transport only to find out it doesn’t exist. The most frequent types of travel-related fraud consist of:

Holiday Accommodation – fraudsters post fake ads for holiday accommodation online, sometimes hacking into real holiday booking accounts to do so

Airline Tickets – a consumer will pay for a fake ticket or one that never shows up believing they are booking a real flight

Sports and Religious trips – These tend to be popular with fraudsters because of the limited, but higher-priced, tickets

Timeshares and Holiday Clubs

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Avoiding Travel Related Fraud

Be vigilant online – Check the websites you’re using for legitimacy, if you have used a travel company you trust before and they provide the service you’re looking for, use them again. Or, if you’re using a new travel company, look for inconsistencies like changes in the domain name throughout the site

Research – Trust other people. Don’t base what travel company you use on just one review, look all over the internet for people’s experiences with them to ensure they’re legitimate.

Look for Our Logo – All travel companies that work with PTS are quality, trusted services we have approved and will have the logo on their website, look out for it next time you’re looking into a travel company, or find travel services through our member search.

Pay Safely – Never pay into individual accounts, and if you can, work with a travel company that uses trust accounts, that will ensure your money is protected throughout the entire process

Check the Paperwork – Give thorough attention to all paperwork provided. If the company is not providing paperwork, steer clear, travel companies are lawfully obligated to provide certain legal documents, and further ones when you ask for them

Use your Instincts – generally if a majority of companies are offering something that doesn’t seem nearly as good as one company, there’s a reason for that balance. If something seems way too good to be true, it probably is.

Report It – If you come across something that seems like a fraudulent website, don’t just walk away, contact Action Fraud.