A scam villa rental website preying on bargain-hunting holidaymakers has been shut down after pressure from The Independent. The site, cycladesrentals.com, was the latest attempt at defrauding travellers using images taken from genuine websites. It claimed to have been “in the field of luxury tourist services for decades”, but was in fact set up last […]
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UK Retailers Hit by £100m Cyber Fraud Bill
Online fraud now accounts for over half of all fraud incidents in the UK retail sector as existing deterrents prove ineffective, according to new stats from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The BRC’s 2016 Retail Crime Survey revealed that 53% of all fraud in the industry comes from cyber, amounting to estimated losses of £100 […]
IHG confirms payment card data breach in 12 hotels
InterContinental Hotels Group has confirmed it was hit by a payment card breach a month ago, revealing payment systems were compromised at a dozen hotels in the US and the Caribbean. According to an IHG statement cards used between August and December last year may be compromised. In a statement, the company said: “IHG has […]
Hajj travel firm boss jailed for 14 months for fraud
The director of a Hajj travel firm was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court yesterday (31 January 2017). Birmingham City Council brought the prosecution following a joint operation between Birmingham Trading Standards and the City of London Police, in Tameside, Greater Manchester on 20 April 2015, assisted […]
Mid-air scammers given suspended jail sentences
Two men have been given jail sentences after exploiting a mid-air banking loophole to buy £1,500 worth of duty free goods using ‘maxed out’ credit cards Peter Jackson and Geoffrey Dunn deliberately took flights in order to take advantage of the scam which meant they were able to purchase items without the means to do […]
Abta welcomes probe into holiday sickness claims firms
Abta has welcomed plans for a formal probe into rogue claims management companies who encourage holidaymakers to lie about being ill to pocket thousands in compensation. The Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Services Regulator is to examine the relationship between such cowboy firms and solicitors after a surge in holiday sickness claims. The action follows […]
Government to investigate rise in holiday sickness payouts
The Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Services Regulator is to examine the relationship between firms that encourage tourists to lie about holiday sickness and solicitors who take the cases on. The MoJ told the Daily Mail: “Tackling fraud in the claims management industry is a key priority and the Claims Management Services Regulator has taken […]
British hoteliers warned of rise in cyber attacks
Two luxury hotels in Cornwall have become victims of cyber attacks, which are increasingly common at British hotels, according to a new report. It suggested criminals hack into bookings systems and block all access, then demand ransoms. Neither of the unnamed Cornish hotels paid the ransom, according to the report in The Times, but they […]
Holiday to Florida is ruined by the fraud squad
Rebecca Waterfall, who worked for Incentivise, a travel agent based in Lymm, Cheshire, left her bosses more than £10,000 in the red – and the Conways more than £5,000 out of pocket after using her bosses’ credit card to pay for vacations, and using her clients’ money to pay off the bills. Prior to the […]
Cheshire travel agent admits fraud
A travel agent is due to be sentenced tomorrow after admitting fraud by abuse of position. Rebecca Waterfall worked for Incentivise, an agency based in Lymm, Cheshire, between October 2015 and May last year. She admitted that during that time she fraudulently used her employer’s credit card to pay for holidays. In total she spent […]
Claims firms fan surge in bogus illness claims
Claims management companies are fuelling “an explosion” in gastric illness (GI) claims by UK holidaymakers in what a leading industry lawyer calls “a money‑making process”. Maria Pittordis, head of marine trade and energy and partner at City law firm Hill Dickinson, said: “There has to be some forceful claims handling.” She told a Hill Dickinson […]
Fraud and cyber scams cause crime total to double
Fraud was today named as the most common offence as new figures revealed that true level of crime is nearly double the previous official total. Statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that there were 11.8 million crimes committed in England and Wales in the 12 months to the end of September. The tally […]
Govt urged to change laws on holiday sickness claims
ABTA is calling on agents and operators to back their fight to stop a sharp rise in sickness claims by holidaymakers. It wants members to share their own experiences and provide evidence of the problem, which they say has escalated in recent years. ABTA believes the rise in claims coincided with changes in the law […]
Holiday Villa Scam
Holidaymakers are being tricked out of thousands of pounds in a cruel villa scam that has led to arrests in Spain. A Money Mail investigation has uncovered dozens of suspected fraud victims sold ‘bargain’ holidays in the Canary and Balearic Islands that didn’t exist. Families are being lured in by apparently genuine websites that appear […]
Abta fraud risk warning
The risks of booking with fraudulent travel companies is highlighted today in a warning issued by Abta. The alert as the peak booking period gets underway follows an increase in fake websites, online scams and non-compliant travel companies that have no financial protection in place. With a third of summer holidays typically booked during January […]
IHG warns of possible data breach
Intercontinental Hotels Group has raised fears of a possible payment card breach at some US hotels. IHG confirmed to Cybersecurity authority website KrebsOnSecurity that an investigation is underway, and it had instructed an external security firm to probe the matter after a pattern of fraud was detected on some customers’ cards. In a statement, the […]
GDS security hopelessly insecure
Security on GDS technology and communication is “hopelessly insecure” and leaves travellers and travel firms open to cybercrime, new research has found. Delegates at a convention of computer hackers in Germany heard a report from security firm SR Labs that claimed flaws allowed criminals to harvest personal information, steal flights or earn millions in air […]
Groupon users lose hundreds of pounds
Scores of Groupon customers in London claim hundreds of pounds has been taken from their bank accounts by cyber criminals. Scammers have allegedly got their hands on some customers’ details and hacked into their accounts to buy high-end products like holidays and iPhones. Many Groupon buyers claim they received unexpected confirmation emails for purchases they […]
Fraud culture thriving with travel illness claims
UK consumers are being accosted at home and abroad but almost half are happy to make fraudulent illness claims against tour operators, according to new research from insurance and risk law firm BLM. The travel industry has been hit by a dramatic rise in gastric illness compensation claims, with rogue claims management companies (CMCs) urging […]
Online conmen pose as workers from Amazon
Fraudsters have targeted people with fake emails claiming to be from Amazon in a bid to get hold of their bank details. The online retail giant last night warned anyone receiving the messages not to reply and to report them. It insisted its database had not been hacked and that the con was a ‘phishing […]