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ABTA to take action against agency scam
ABTA will be taking action against a company that is claiming to sell holidays on behalf of operators including First Choice. The scam was revealed to TravelMole by Paul Okopskyj, reservation manager at Bob Sopel Travel Ltd. He was phoned at home by the company. It called itself Direct Travel Concepts, offered him cut price holidays, a ?100 voucher and an invitation to an ?ABTA-bonded presentation?. The caller said he worked on behalf of the owners First Choice, Cosmos, Airtours and JMC. The caller claimed that the four rivals had joined together to sell direct and cut out the travel agent. ABTA spokesman, Sean Tipton told TravelMole: ?This is ridiculous, this company is clearly acting as an agent ? and as for an ?ABTA-bonded presentation? ? that is meaningless.? Mr Tipton said he had contacted MyTravel to make sure the company had no connection with its business of a similar name. Mr Okopskyj sent off for the paperwork in the hope of getting more information about the scam. When the paperwork arrived with a ?100 voucher it featured an ABTA logo, but no number, and no terms and conditions. Mr Tipton said ABTA would be taking action against the company. ?We take the misuse of the ABTA logo very seriously. Everything they [Direct Travel Concepts] said is a lie. They are not approved by ABTA?, he said. ?I think this is also a matter for the Office of Fair Trading?, he added. Report by Ginny McGrath
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