Illustration: Robin Cowcher
Chris Vedelago reports on the latest scams targeting travellers, including bogus emails pleading for money.
Australians are being targeted by a series of sophisticated travel-related scams that use high-tech hacking methods or slick advertising values to cheat people of money and financial information.
Consumer watchdogs warn the increasingly common email scam asks friends or family to send money overseas to help an acquaintance or relative who has lost money or been robbed.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says consumers have already lost thousands of dollars after responding to these bogus distress emails.
''Scammers are targeting and gaining control of consumers' email and social-networking accounts,'' an ACCC spokeswoman says. ''Once a scammer has control of a consumer's account, they can change the password and pose as that person. Scammers commonly use personal information, such as where you are holidaying, to make their bogus emails sound as if they were written by you. They may claim that while on holidays, they have been robbed then [ask] the recipients of the email to send them money, usually via wire or money transfer, so they can pay for their hotel bill or other expenses to get home.''
Consumers are advised to confirm any request for emergency assistance by phone.
It's an insidious, high-tech twist on a growing number of travel-related scams set up, mostly overseas, to prey on Australians, according to the ACCC and consumer groups.
Consumer Affairs Victoria has highlighted a telephone-based scam where people claiming to be from a popular television travel program sell cheap travel packages to five-star resorts under the guise of the program's name. The package deal is either fake or turns out to be substantially different from what is offered.
The ACCC also warns the resurgence of ''scratchie'' holiday scams, where glossy travel brochures and never-fail-to-win scratch cards offer up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and prizes. Consumers are required to give their credit-card details to pay for taxes, fees or charges.
''This type of scam works because of the excitement created by the winning card and the scammer's persuasive spiel,'' the deputy chairman of the ACCC, Peter Kell, says.
''It also works because the letters look like the real thing. The brochures [are] backed up by equally professional-looking websites.''
The scam, which is primarily run out of Malaysia under a host of different company names, has been reported across a succession of territories and states since early last year. The ACCC has received about 280 complaints.
Other scams include selling fake 2010 World Cup tickets, offering compensation for travel plans disrupted due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland and websites charging a fee to arrange a visa for travel to the US.
The ACCC has no specific figures on the number or cost of travel-related scams alone but reports that the number of complaints in Australia about scam activity increased by 16 per cent last year. It is estimated that scams cost Australian consumers about $70 million last year, although this is believed to represent ''only the tip of the iceberg'' because many victims don't report scams because they are embarrassed.
Consumer watchdogs advise to be suspicious of any reward or prize received by unsolicited letter, email or telemarketing and that personal or financial details should never be disclosed to someone whose identity has not been confirmed.
When in doubt, contact the ACCC or your state consumer or fair trading organisation.
See scamwatch.gov.au.
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