Beware of travel scams fuelled by social media
Tali writes about scams and consumer rights for Which? delving into fraud, technology and consumer rights topics to keep readers safe and empowered.
A third of UK adults report an increase in fraudulent travel content on social media in the past year, according to a survey conducted by Opinium on behalf of the payment provider, emerchantpay.
The nationally representative survey also found that seven in 10 UK adults said they are wary of promotional emails related to holidays due to scams.
We recommend that you always book through official, trusted channels. If you spot a tempting offer on social media, you should do your research before you book or share any payment details.
Below, we outline some of the nastiest social media travel scams we've seen this year and how you can spot and avoid these scams.
Non-existent holidays and attractions
Which? has warned about the rise of fake attractions being peddled on social media. Our research for Which? Travel found a fake Christmas market at Buckingham Palace, and a non-existent sky ride in Thailand peddled through social media videos and littering people's feeds.
Which? has also found numerous examples of scammers using stolen images to impersonate holiday providers and con people with non-existent offers.
Typically, these scams involve fraudsters using social media ads to promote fake holidays, accommodation and attractions before luring you into 'booking' on a scam website and stealing your money. The result is that you're left with nothing, you've lost money and you have handed over your details and payment information to a scammer.
In the worst of these cases, people lose thousands and are left stranded with limited support.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are undoubtedly arming fraudsters with slick and sophisticated content to create convincing scams. A recent Which? Tech investigation asked people to spot AI-generated deepfake videos from a selection of real and fake videos, and seven in 10 failed to correctly identify all of the videos shown to them.
Worryingly, these tools are highly accessible and useful in a scammer's arsenal. Recent research carried out by the cybersecurity firm McAfee found that four in 10 travellers have encountered a travel-related scam with tactics including the use of AI to direct consumers to illegitimate booking sites, impersonate travel brands or manipulate online reviews.
Fake customer service support
Using fake social media profiles, Which? has found scammers posing as helpful employees working for popular holiday companies and airlines.
The fake customer service agents target people who need help with a complaint on social media, often replying to messages that people have posted to the legitimate provider. The scam account swoops in and claims that they can help by diverting the conversation to private messages, where they'll ask for payment and personal information.
One recent scam Which? uncovered saw a scammer infiltrate a support group on Facebook for Booking.com customers. The scammer masquerading as a customer service agent attempted to get customers to contact them for help using a convincing, but completely fraudulent, email address.
Who will stop these scammers?
Under the Online Safety Act (OSA), social media platforms must prevent harmful content, including scams, from being published on their platforms.
Rules for scam ads are not yet in force, but these tech companies should already be banning illegal user-generated content, such as fake holiday customer service assistants and non-sponsored posts promoting non-existent holidays.
Sadly, social media firms are failing to take meaningful action to tackle the flood of scams on their platforms.
5 ways to check if a holiday is a scam
- Be wary of offers which sound too good to be true.
- Avoid known brands peddling unofficial websites, as these could be scammers impersonating the brand.
- Check if images are stolen by using a reverse image tool like TinEye or by searching the images using Google image search by selecting the camera icon at the right of the search bar.
- Check signs that it could be a deepfake video, including lip syncing, robotic voices and blurry details, as well as emotional mismatches between the person in the video and the theme.
- Avoid interacting with customer service employees on social media; instead, email the company using details on its official website.
On social media, you can report posts and profiles by selecting the three dots in the top right and pressing ‘Report'.
If you think you have lost money to a holiday booking scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Report Fraud or Police Scotland by calling 101.
