Holidaymakers hit by steep rise in scams

THE number of holidaymakers being ripped off by booking scams has risen by a fifth in the past year, figures have revealed.

A total of £7.2million was lost by consumers in 2016, at an average of more than £1,200 per victim – with the most common cons relating to sales of airline tickets, online accommodation bookings, and timeshare sales.

There were 5,826 reported cases in 2016, with fraudsters increasingly setting up bogus accommodation websites, hacking into legitimate accounts, and posting fake adverts online.

Holidaymakers are also losing thousands of pounds by booking flights and not receiving genuine tickets, with flights to Africa and the Indian subcontinent particularly targeted last year.

ActionFraud, the UK’s fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, said the number of cases was up 19 per cent on 2015. The authorities believe criminals are taking advantage of travellers’ lack of awareness of the regulations in place for UK-based firms.

Most of those defrauded pay by methods such as bank transfers or cash, with no means of getting their money back.

William George, 38, lost £8,000 when he paid for a villa in Portugal via an international bank transfer. Mr George only realised he had been conned a day before arriving when he called the company, whose email had been hacked.