Visa and MasterCard are sending confidential alerts to financial institutions across the United States this week, warning them about more than 200,000 credit cards that were stolen in the epic data breach announced last week at big-three credit bureau Equifax. At first glance, the private notices obtained by KrebsOnSecurity appear to suggest that hackers initially breached Equifax […]
Category: Consumer News
YouTube video encouraging holiday sickness claims banned
A YouTube video encouraging holidaymakers to make sickness claims when they return from their trips has been banned following a complaint by ABTA. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld three complaints made by the travel association against the video, which was promoting holidaysicknessclaims.co.uk run by Manchester-based Claims Legal. The video featured a mock newsreader claiming […]
Six arrested in fake holiday sickness claim operation
Spanish police have reportedly arrested several people and seized computers in Majorca amid a massive operation against alleged fake holiday food poisoning claims. Civil Guard officers took hold of bundles of documents during court-authorised searches of properties and businesses on the island. Sources told The Mirror they believe two to three of six people reportedly […]
Beware crying wolf over holiday sickness complaints
Assuming that holiday illness complaints are a scam could be a ‘recipe for disaster’, says Professor Rodney Cartwright and Dr Esteban Delgado. “Not another client complaint of stomach upset whilst on holiday. We know it is probably another scam. Let’s ignore it for a while.” This can be a recipe for disaster. It is true […]
Easyjet Facebook Scam
EasyJet is warning Facebook users not to be taken in by a “free flights” scam that has gone viral on the social media platform. The scam claims to offer two free tickets to everyone that participates in an online survey, in celebration of the airline’s 22nd anniversary. When users click on the link, they are […]
Muslims defrauded by dodgy Hajj tour operators
Nasir Rana, 61, was looking forward to performing his first pilgrimage to Mecca this year. The former government employee put $4,500 from his pension – a sum around three times the average annual salary in Pakistan – into a trip organised by Al-Hashmi travels. But today, as the Hajj draws to its close in the […]
Identity theft at epidemic levels, warns Cifas
Identity theft is reaching “epidemic levels”, according to a fraud prevention group, with people in their 30s the most targeted group. ID fraudsters obtain personal information before pretending to be that individual and apply for loans or store cards in their name. A total of 89,000 cases were recorded in the first six months of […]
Sneaky travel scams and how to avoid them
It is not just beachside bag snatchers that holidaymakers need to worry about – much bigger losses come from pickpocketing companies and scammers trying to overcharge you from the moment you book a trip abroad. Banks, airlines and car hire firms have become increasingly creative when it comes to hidden fees and sneaky tricks designed […]
Fake online ticket epidemic
Scores of people have reported being ripped off by a ticket exchange website leaving them hundreds – and in some cases thousands – of pounds out of pocket. The issue of ticket fraud is widespread and growing. Almost 22,000 people reported losses of over £21m to criminals between 2013 and 2016, according to data from Get Safe Online, […]
Lowcost administrators given another year to investigate
Lowcosttravelgroup’s administrators have been given another year to carry out enquiries, as they continue to investigate whether legal action should be taken against any parties involved with the travel group. Smith & Williamson’s creditors report confirmed in March that “sufficient cause” had been found for a detailed investigation into Lowcosttravelgroup’s eventual collapse on July 15 […]
Customer fined over false sickness claim
A holidaymaker who claimed she’d suffered food poisoning on a holiday with Thomas Cook has had her claim thrown out by a judge after her Facebook pictures showed her on boat trips and drinking alcohol by the hotel pool. Marissa McLean, from Redditch, Worcestershire, said she’d been taken ill after eating ‘under-cooked chicken’ at the […]
Tui client ordered to pay £25,000
The claim, made two years after Amy Hughes from Holyhead returned home from her 2011 holiday, was due to be heard by a court last October, but was dropped just before the hearing without explanation, the Daily Mail reports. Hughes spent 11 days at the Iberotel Palace in Sharm. A Thomson investigation found she had […]
Breakthrough in crackdown on false sickness claims
Joint action by the UK travel trade and police, courts and hoteliers in Spain has led to a major a breakthrough in the fight against false sickness claims. According to TUI UK and Ireland, a major crackdown has led to one law firm dropping more than 1,800 cases against the travel giant. Managing director Nick […]
Tui sees 1,800 holiday sickness cases against it dropped
Tui UK & Ireland claims one law firm has dropped 1,800 holiday sickness cases against it and has revealed customers who submitted false or exaggerated against hoteliers in Majorca in the past year can now “expect criminal action to be taken. The company also had a “very positive” meeting with the Spanish police “to discuss […]
Tui & Spanish police crack down on bogus sickness claims
Tui is working with Spanish police to help with efforts to crack down on bogus illness claims by holidaymakers prompted by claims management companies in resorts. The Thomson and First Choice parent company met with the financial crimes division of the Spanish National Police last week to discuss the issues and the actions that are […]
Brits’ weak stomachs – sickness claims
Thomas Cook Group chief executive Peter Fankhauser claimed today that British tourists have become the laughing stock of Europe due to a 500% rise in holiday sickness claims. Fankhauser, a Swiss national, told the ABTA Travel Matters conference that there was a joke that the British have weak stomachs and the Germans have stronger constitutions. […]
Fake food poisoning claims
Package holidays could soar in price because of a surge in fraudulent food poisoning claims against all inclusive resorts, a trade body has claimed. Experts are warning a growing epidemic of travel sickness fraud has become the new bogus whiplash claim industry which poses the biggest threat the travel industry has seen in years. The […]
Holiday sickness claimants
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]