As we settle into winter and begin to dream of warm locales to get away, be careful of an increasing number of travel scams, the Better Business Bureau is warning.
The BBB national Scam Tracker has tracked multiple reports of travel scams involving fake airline and booking sites and phone numbers.
In 2021, BBB’s Scam Tracker had 339 reported scams involving travel. The total dollars reported lost on travel scams in 2021 on BBB’s Scam Tracker exceeded $350,000. Scams range from time lost and personal security information threatened to tens of thousands on any single report.
Most reports mention consumers booking a flight or vacation deal with what appeared to be a legitimate site or a major airline phone number.
But then after the booking, consumers never received a confirmation email or information about the trip. Many consumers never receive booking information. Others are soon contacted by the scammers stating the “deal” was expired or canceled. The scammer then offers a different deal for a higher price. The scammers urge consumers to provide credit card details or to make larger purchases by canceling the previous “deal” and booking another.
Consumers have reported contacting the major airlines and finding out the booking information does not exist. Travelers have been stranded at airports due to only one legitimate ticket purchase. Others report several repeating charges made after the initial purchase.
Some reported scam websites are PSSTravel.net,
