The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has released a report that alerts the public to the fraudulent schemes commonly committed during the holiday season, so consumers are less likely to fall victim to scammers.
The 10-page publication, titled “Crime does not take a holiday – Avoid being scammed this festive season”, follows the FIC’s analysis of reports it has received over time. The Centre receives regulatory reports from accountable institutions. Flowing from its analysis, the FIC identified the methods, trends, and patterns of suspicious transactions, and red flags or indicators associated with holiday scams.
These scams relate to holiday rentals, accommodation, vouchers, travel agencies, holiday clubs, fraudulent timeshares, and online ticket sales. The report also offers tips on how to avoid falling victim to scammers.
The FIC says travel and holiday scams often follow the same pattern.
Scammers create bogus websites offering holiday specials and gifts. The scam websites often mimic legitimate sites. Scammers also create fake social media pages and emails cloning reputable travel agencies and accommodation portals.
These websites, social media pages, and emails include attractive images, deals, and testimonials to appear trustworthy. They offer deals on holiday packages, accommodation, flights, and other travel options. The victims buy the deals assuming they are dealing with a legitimate company, but they never receive the goods or services after payment.
Scammers offer deals that are too good to be true – extremely low prices compared to the market rates, or last-minute offers on flights and accommodation.
Scammers also send emails or messages to victims claiming they have won a free holiday or free airline tickets or have been selected to receive a discounted voucher. The fake holiday voucher and prizes are often attached to hidden fees for processing, administration, and booking that must be paid upfront.
The vouchers and prizes are often fake, and the scammers disappear with the money after payments have been made.
Many scammers encourage recipients of “free tickets” to forward the special offer to friends so that they can also “benefit”. Once this is done, the scammers have access to the details of the recipient and the persons to whom the “free tickets” offer was sent.
The FIC says consumers should be particularly suspicious when they are asked to make deposits or upfront payments to facilitate the transfer of funds. Scammers often use pressure tactics and urgency to induce consumers to take up deals or offers.
The report says victims of a holiday scam should:
- open a case with the South African Police Service;
- contact the financial institution used to transfer the funds and provide it with the case number and full details of what happened; and
- report the incident to the National Consumer Commission.
