Holidaymakers warned over £5,000 villa scams
Dreaming of escaping our grey shores for a sun-soaked villa? Do your research before snapping up a cut-price holiday or you could risk losing thousands of pounds to scammers, travellers have been warned.
More than one in three villa scams led to losses between £1,000 and £5,000, according to new research by Barclays. Figures came from customers reporting fraud to the bank, with 196 cases seen over six months.
Such scams see criminals hijack the details of overseas villas or use fake details to con unsuspecting holidaymakers.
Ross Martin, Barclays’ head of digital safety, said fraudsters are preparing to take advantage of sun-seekers at this time of year.
He added: “Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to access our money, but there are simple things we can all do to better protect ourselves.”
When booking a villa online, Mr Martin advised holidaymakers to:
Be wary of requests to pay via bank transfer.
Question “too good to be true” deals.
Check the villa’s advertised rate against the going rate locally.
Search the business’s location online.
See if the villa appears to be advertised by other companies under a different name.
Check that the travel agent and website are certified.
Barclays said that going after the “too good to be true” deal is often where people fall down. This can be especially prominent for villa scams as consumers are investing a large amount of money into the holiday and so are always looking for the best deal.
In 59 per cent of villa scams the victims were women. Meanwhile, 30 to 44 year-olds accounted for 36 per cent of those affected.
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA, the British association of travel agents and tour operators, said: “For those customers unlucky enough to fall victim to holiday booking fraud, the cost to them is not just financial; this crime causes very real disappointment and emotional distress.”
Mr Tanzer added that tourists are particularly vulnerable to this sort of crime when booking online, including through fake websites and fraudulent adverts on social media.
He advised checking that the web address is legitimate and has not been altered by slight changes to a domain name – such as going from .co.uk to .org
Mr Tanzer said that those who suspect fraudulent activity should always report it to Action Fraud to “put these criminals out of business”.
Barclays followed up its analysis with a survey of more than 2,000 consumers. The results revealed that Britons need to pay closer attention to warning signs when booking a holiday.
Among those surveyed, 43 per cent said they would not hear alarm bells if they were asked to pay for a holiday via bank transfer. Meanwhile, 55 per cent said they would not be put off booking a holiday, even if it seemed “too good to be true”.
Fewer than half of respondents would check if their booking is with a member of a trade body or a consumer protection scheme, such as ABTA.
A little simple research could help you avoid putting your money at risk.
