Would-be conmen are increasingly turning to social media to tout fake holiday deals, according to travel anti-fraud group Profit.
Profit reported a growing trend of fraudsters solely using social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to promote fake deals to con holidaymakers.
It comes as Abta joins forces with Action Fraud and Get Safe Online to make holidaymakers aware of how to avoid scams. New figures show more than 5,000 cases of holiday and travel booking fraud were reported last year, with total losses of £7 million. This was up from 4,382 victims and losses of £6.7 million in 2017.
Speaking about the rise of fraud on social media, Profit chairman Barry Gooch said: “We have seen a trend of people solely operating on social media. If you go back 18 months, we were not aware of anyone selling [fake] holidays just through social media.”
Bruce Martin, managing director of Ginger Juice, a social media agency that specialises in travel, raised similar fears. “Social media companies talk a good talk about dealing with fake news, but seem slow at bringing posts down,”
he said, urging the industry to report fake posts to force social media companies to act faster. He added: “Posts can look legitimate, but it is surprising how many people in travel are sharing them.”
Gooch said social media platforms need to take the issue more seriously, adding that they “appear oblivious to the perils of online fraud and travel firms selling holidays on their sites without consumer protection”.
No cases examined by Profit had related to members of trade associations or consortia, he said.
Report bogus social media posts to Profit: contactus@profit.uk.com.
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