Bargain hunters fail to scrutinise dream deals, says ABTA

Saturday, 06 Jul, 2010 0

One in three web users booking holidays online do not check out the authenticity of travel providers before paying up, ABTA and a government internet security initiative have warned.

UK users are ignoring basic fraud-prevention advice, they say, by failing to make sure holiday providers offering amazing online deals are members of a trade organisation that can vouch for their business-worthiness.

ABTA and GetSafeOnline.org warn that this practise makes holiday makers prey to spending hard-earned cash on dream holidays that don’t exist.

Research by GetSafeOnline, which is a joint partnership between the government, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), and public and private sector sponsors from technology, communication, retail and finance sectors, has revealed that one in five people do not check the web page is secure when entering payment details.

A secure page helps ensure credit card information cannot be intercepted by fraudsters.

Managing director of GetSafeOnline Tony Neate said: “When we’ve been working hard the rest of the year, for most people, making sure we have a great summer holiday is really important.

“Fraudsters recognise this and play on people’s desires – we get caught up in the excitement of a ‘bargain dream holiday’ and cautiousness goes out of the window.

“When things don’t start to add up, that’s when you really need to do your research. For example, if you decide to rent a villa or holiday home from an individual and they don’t provide a contact telephone number or don’t respond to calls, and they ask for full payment upfront to be made by a cheque in the post or wire transfer, then you need to be very careful.

“For private rentals, this may be the only way they can take payment, but it does make them almost impossible to track.”

The survey also showed that many holiday makers don’t know about the most common scams.

Some 67% of people say they’ve never heard of holiday rental scams, 68% knew nothing of the idea of bogus holiday sites and 81% were unfamiliar with gap-year fraud.

Alarmingly, 22% of respondents said they’ve been approached with holiday deals or villa rentals through unsolicited emails, phones calls or texts from people or companies they don’t know.

Head of financial services at ABTA Mike Monk said: “Booking your holiday online is a great way of finding unique locations and experiences, as well as often being faster, more convenient and offering value for money. However, with the online travel industry worth many millions each year, it’s inevitable that fraudsters will follow the money trail.

“However, by being aware of the risks, knowing the ‘tell-tale’ signs to look out for and taking some basic prevention measures, there’s no reason why holidaymakers cannot enjoy the benefits of booking online. That’s why ABTA is partnering with Get Safe Online today to encourage people to follow our top advice for staying safe online.”

by Dinah Hatch

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Dinah

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