Agents urged to report fake online offers
Agents are being urged to report fake travel offers on the internet in a bid to crack down on fraudsters.
The latest Facebook scam doing the rounds targets TUI, offering users the chance to win a holiday to the Maldives. It uses the TUI smile logo and includes a link to a page using a fake TUI holidays address.
The post features a picture of two ‘agents’ in front of travel brochures, holding an envelope, with the accompanying, badly written text:
"CEO Announcement! I’m Lisa Reddit a CEO at TUI, This envelope I’m holding contains travel documents for a 10 night TUI holiday in the Maldives for two. I’m glad to announce at 8pm tonight we have decided to give someone who shares then comments the envelope.
Big name travel brands are frequently used as bait for Facebook fraudsters, much to the annoyance of the travel industry.
Past posts offering false prizes have used the brands of Butlin’s, Thomas Cook and Qantas.
The website Hoax Slayer, which alerts consumers to fraudulent marketing campaigns, warns that all the scams are merely trying to trick people into submitting their personal details which are then shared with unscrupulous marketing companies.
Speaking on the industry’s Facebook forum, Travel Gossip, social media consultant Bruce Martin said: "I think we all have a duty to report fake travel pages offering fake travel deals. Don’t just roll your eyes – report!"
He said the more people who report a scam, the quicker Facebook will act on it and take it down.
To report a fake offer, click on the three dots in the top right corner of the post and scroll down to ‘Give feedback on this post’.
Then simply click on ‘spam’.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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