A top bank is urging British holidaymakers to stay vigilant as scams relating to holidays have increased by a third (33 per cent) in the last year. Holidaymakers have lost nearly £3,000 when they have fallen victim to these scams.
Reviewing scams reported to them in the 12 months to March this year, Lloyds Bank found fraud relating to flight bookings was up by 13 per cent, scams linked to hotels were up by 18 per cent, and package holiday-style scams rose by 17 per cent.
The average amount lost to a flight scam was a whopping £2,955, while the average lost on a package holiday scam was a crippling £2,342 and for hotel scams it was £1,231. The biggest increase was in scams linked to fake caravan bookings, with cases surging by 108 per cent in the past year. Holidaymakers lost a lot less when they fell victim to this scam, though, with the average at £374.
Many of these scams start with false adverts on search engines or social media, explains Lloyds. Victims often click on a link taking them to a website and believe they are dealing with a legitimate company. However, it is all too easy for scammers to impersonate genuine firms online. Some fraudsters even lurk on real accommodation listing sites, before convincing victims to transfer cash directly rather than through the official platform.
Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds…
