Jet2holidays claims a couple seeking holiday sickness compensation “drank shots and spirits” on the night they were allegedly taken ill. The couple from Liverpool travelled with Jet2holidays on a 12-day all-inclusive holiday to Gloria Palace, San Agustin, Gran Canaria in July 2015. The operator received a letter from an Oldham-based solicitors more than 15 months […]
Category: Latest Fraud News
Fake travel firms
Bogus travel websites are reportedly duping Google into thinking they are genuine so they can target more than 5,000 British holidaymakers a year with phantom holidays. An explosion of convincing fake travel websites, which steal photographs of real luxury accommodation, are targeting unsuspecting holidaymakers. An investigation by ITV Tonight uncovered more than ten fake travel […]
Fight Fake Claims: Firms urged to tighten record-keeping
Signs that the travel industry is fighting back against false illness claims have been welcomed by a leading travel industry lawyer. Holiday firms can challenge fake claims, but they must act early and have the right processes in place, said Joanna Kolatsis, partner and head of aviation and travel at Hill Dickinson. Last week it […]
Holidaymakers warned of gastric illness touts
The UK Foreign Office is warning holidaymakers about companies encouraging them to make holiday sickness claims in Turkey and Bulgaria. The government department is advising travellers that they could face prosecution if they are found to be making a fake claim. It comes as Abta has urged travellers from the UK to report firms they […]
Fight Fake Claims: Monarch will not be a soft touch
Q. How quickly has the number of claims spiralled? A. In 2015 we had 96 claims, and in 2016 we had 462, which is a near-400% increase. It’s a phenomenal rise. It’s still a small percentage in the big scheme of things, but our industry and customers are being criticised by overseas hotels. Q. So […]
Industry must fight false sickness claims – TUI
In a Q&A session at the ITT Conference, moderated by TTG Media managing director Daniel Pearce, Burling, who is also Tui’s chief executive Northern Region urged the industry to come together to stamp out the issue. “This is a situation where claims management companies are tricking and duping customers into making claims when they haven’t […]
Airline Ticket Scams
Raise your hand if you’ve ever received an email with the subject line, “Bill Gates Wants to Share His Fortune With You!!” The offer, dating back to the origins of email, promised massive riches if you “helped out” by testing the email system. Usually, you were only eligible for the offer if you spammed a […]
Profit urges firms to adopt two anti-phishing systems
Travel businesses are being urged to cut the increasing risk of cybercrime in the sector by signing up to two free programmes to slash phishing emails and spam. Industry body Prevention of Fraud in Travel (Profit) launched a campaign to promote the initiatives last week, both freely available through the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA). The […]
Agent admits stealing thousands in fake bookings scam
Anas Ahmed, a director of AirBridge Travel Ltd (ABT), located in Church Lane, Brent, pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in an unfair commercial practice and one of engaging in an aggressive commercial practice, The Kilburn Times reports. Harrow Crown Court was told that more than 30 clients believed they had booked flights through […]
Behind Britain’s boom in holiday sickness claims
Hill Dickinson partner Maria Pittordis explains the legal background, and Ian Taylor reports on the latest Appeal Court ruling Lawyer Maria Pittordis, a partner and head of the marine and trade division at law firm Hill Dickinson, is a specialist in holiday sickness or gastric illness claims. She said: “There has been an explosion in […]
Pair quized by police amid probe into fake illness claims
Two Britons suspected of encouraging tourists to make fake food poisoning claims have been held by police in Majorca. The pair were detained yesterday by officials in northern Majorca in what are believed to be the first detentions of their kind in Spain. Officers were understood to be probing whether the suspects were acting on […]
Tui illness claims increase 1,400%
Tui has seen an “enormous” 1,400% rise in holiday sickness claims from UK customers in the past two years, and is blacklisting those it believes to have committed fraud. The revelations come as the UK’s largest operator backs Travel Weekly’s Fight Fake Claims campaign, launched today, which seeks to combat the rise in fraudulent gastric […]
Travel Weekly rallies trade to tackle claims epidemic
Travel Weekly is today launching a campaign to combat the scourge of fake holiday illness claims with the backing of the big three operators and Abta. Fight Fake Claims demands the new UK government changes the law to remove the commercial benefit for claims management firms to solicit hundreds of thousands of largely false claims. […]
Gastric illness claims surge
The cost of all-inclusive holidays could rise by 15% for UK holidaymakers if the surge in false holiday sickness claims continues, insurers warn. Abta says the rise in gastric illness claims are up by more than 500% across the industry while lawyers have warned that Spanish hoteliers are considering stopping selling all-inclusive packages to the […]
Crackdown on tourists over food poisoning scams in Spain
Travellers submitting false claims of illnesses on all-inclusive trips to face prosecution after hoteliers say racket cost £52m in 2016. British tourists who make fraudulent claims of food poisoning after going on all-inclusive trips to Spain have been warned they could face prosecution amid fears the increasingly prevalent scam is damaging the UK’s reputation abroad. […]
AirAsia warns customers of free ticket scams
Low-cost carrier AirAsia is the latest airline to warn customers of a free ticket scam. It has been alerted to posts on social media offering free tickets via an online survey. Survey participants answer several questions and then are purportedly given vouchers to redeem for free flights, the airline said in a release. It is […]
Gastric illness claims soar 520% in one year
Maria Pittordis, a partner at law firm Hill Dickinson, said: “Some companies are getting 100 claims per day. They are all for all-inclusive holidays. Most of them – 99.9% – are from people who did not report their illness in-resort. “It’s out of control and doesn’t seem to be subsiding, and it’s costing the travel […]
Hacker admits Norwich airport cyber attack
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 […]
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 […]