The airport was forced to take its website down for three days in September 2015 and build a new one at a cost of £30,000 to £40,000, the BBC reports. The hacker, Daniel Devereux, 30, of no fixed address, will be sentenced by Norwich Magistrates’ Court on June 16. Devereux, who used the pseudonym His […]
Month: May 2017
False sickness claim
A British couple are facing a counter-claim of £170,000 from a five star Greek hotel which alleges that their holiday sickness claim is false. Sean and Caroline Bondarenko are accused of making a fake £10,000 claim against the Caldera Palace Hotel in Crete after saying the resort’s food and drink made them ill. They could […]
Rise in reports of holiday scams
Holiday scams are on the rise, with the number of reported cases up almost 20% year on year – from 4,910 to 5,826 in 2016 – according to Action Fraud figures. Those reporting scams had lost around £1,200 on average. But the losses are not just financial: for many, it also affected their health. More […]
Bogus sickness claims will push up holiday prices
Fraudulent holiday sickness claims will push up the price of holidays, warned Global Travel managing director Andy Stark at the group’s overseas conference this weekend. Stark said the rise in bogus claims was a big problem for the industry and will ultimately lead to higher prices for holidaymakers. “It will put the premiums up from […]
Thomas Cook adds voice to false holiday sickness claims
Thomas Cook has added its voice to growing concerns about the rise in false holiday sickness claims by Brits abroad. The travel giant said that ‘in common with the rest of the UK package travel industry’, it has seen an increase in illness related claims from UK consumers. “At a time when customer satisfaction levels […]
Industry must act on sickness claims
The recent upsurge in holiday sickness claims is “clearly fraud” and is putting the reputation of UK travel firms at risk. That is the view of Deloitte global leader for travel and aviation Graham Pickett, who urged industry leaders at the annual Barclays Travel Forum in London last week to do more to stamp out […]
Thomas Cook reports rise in holiday sickness claims
Thomas Cook revealed an increase in illness related claims from UK consumers in its interim half-year results and said it believes many to be “questionable”. The operator would not give figures but said the rise was in line with the rest of the UK package travel industry. Abta has talked of a 500% increase in […]
Take action on cyber security and new tech
Pritchard, lead partner for travel at the business advisory firm, played a hard-hitting video to the audience of around 500 delegates which showed how easy it can be to fall victim to a cyber attack as a business. Pritchard’s main piece of advice for avoiding such an attack was to regularly update anti-virus software. He […]
Trade urged to boost cyber security
Travel agents need to beef up cyber security in the wake of last weekend’s gobal ransomware attack. That was the message to members at the Advantage Conference, who were warned hackers can shatter medium and small businesses such as independent agents. NHS systems were hacked last week, while in February Abta was victim to a […]
Hajj fraud: Police warn Muslims over fake Mecca bookings
Police forces across the country are encouraging people to report Hajj fraud. Raising awareness this week, police forces say the Hajj fraud campaign is part of the ongoing efforts to protect Muslims who will be booking trips to Mecca over the coming months to perform Hajj between August 30 and September 4, 2017. Law enforcement […]
False holiday sickness claims
The travel trade is being urged to pull together to fight the rise of false holiday sickness claims. Speaking at the Advantage Conference in Provence this week, Deloitte lead partner Alistair Pritchard said it was a big issue for the industry. “We need to get together and make sure we appropriately lobby government,” he told […]
Reported travel fraud cases against consumers up 20%
Almost 6,000 unsuspecting UK travellers lost a total of £7.2 million from holiday booking fraud last year. The number of reported cases rose by almost 20% from 2015 from 4,910 to 5,826 with an average loss of £1,200 per person. The most common types of fraud involve the sale of airline tickets, booking accommodation online […]
Travel firms offered free tech to fight cybercrime
Free technology to fight cybercrime is to be offered to travel companies. The US-based Global Cyber Alliance, of which UK organisation Prevention of Fraud in Travel is a founding partner, will launch the initiative on May 30. It aims to reduce the risk of spam, phishing emails, ransomware and cyberattacks on travel and tourism companies. […]
Stay safe – the cyber criminals are watching
More than half (52%) of British businesses fell victim to cyber crime in 2016, at a cost of nearly £30 billion, according to a recent survey from Beaming. The specialist internet service provider also recorded a fivefold increase in the number of unique IP addresses used to launch attacks against UK businesses during 2016. More […]
Bogus holiday sickness claims – Portugal
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has extended a warning over bogus holiday illness claims management companies to British holidaymakers in Portugal. The move follows Jet2holidays enlisting private detectives to help in the fight against false holiday sickness claims. The ongoing issue, which was highlighted on ITV News last night, has raised the prospect of Spanish […]
Jet2holidays hires private detectives
Jet2holidays is engaging the help of private detectives in its campaign against companies that “coax holidaymakers into making false sickness claims. The private detectives will be out in resorts, looking out for touts and claims management companies (CMCs) “attempting to lure holidaymakers into making false claims”. They will be acting on customer tip-offs too and […]
Cyber safety experts set for Travel Weekly summit
A special Travel Weekly summit will examine the growing threat from cyber criminals and what travel firms can do to protect themselves from attack. The half-day Cyber Security Summit, which will take place on June 22 at NatWest’s headquarters in Bishopsgate, London, will hear from experts in cybercrime and data security. Next year all firms […]