It often seems easy and convenient to make ticket bookings and hotel reservations online. However one has to be highly cautious while doing so to avoid falling prey to a cyber fraud. Since ticket & travel scams are quite common these days, it is important to be vigilant in order to stay protected from numerous travel websites which are tricking people by selling fake tickets.
Here are some most common ways in which a ticket and travel scam is done:
- Free Or Discounted Vacation – The victim is often sent an email with a congratulatory message that they have won a vacation travel & stay for free or at a discounted rate but they will be required to pay a small fee or provide their credit card details in order to claim the offer.
- Vacation Ticket Re-Sell Scam – Sometimes the victim falls prey to an ad posted by someone who claims to have purchased a ticket but wishes to re-sell it due to inability to go for the trip because of some personal reasons. Thus, the victim is fooled by an offer of getting tickets at a much lower fare.
- Location Scam – Fraudsters post an ad of a vacation rental or hotel and when an interested person clicks on it to make the bookings, they are often asked for some security deposit or sometimes even the full amount. However, all their excitement and zeal to spend a perfect vacation goes off when they reach the booked destination and find that no such place exists and that they have been scammed.
Tips To Avoid The Scam:
- Be Cautious – Look out for hints while scrolling through a website. Most likely a website that does not have an about and contact page would be a scam site. Also check that the URL has ‘https’ to make sure that it is a secure website.
- Check Reviews Online – To know if the website is safe to use or not, make sure that you check their social media profiles, reviews, blog posts etc. because it is highly unlikely for a fake website to put in efforts for building up all fake reviews and social media handles.
- Use A Credit Card – Credit cards are more secure than debit cards as they do not allow direct access to your bank account and are at a better position when it comes to protection from fraudulent activities.
For more information about IT Security, call Centex Technologies at (254) 213-4740.