Fake sites and sales of bogus tours and hotels via eBay with payment via PayPal are the latest trend of travel fraudsters in Germany. At the same time, fraudsters pretend to be completely legal travel agencies – which eventually reveal the fraud when tourists call them for details of the purchased pseudo-tour. Injured tourists are expected to be bought at a low price, that is, the Ukrainian proverb that the stingy pays twice is confirmed in Germany…
Thus, the Oberhausen travel agency in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia suffered from the actions of fraudsters. His fake “clone” on the Internet deceived more than 40 tourists. Tourists were bought at a lower price – a tour that costs 7,000 euros was given for 3,500. However, after collecting the money, the fraudsters disappeared. At the same time, tourists did not require a travel insurance certificate.
The second case was recorded on eBay, where fraudsters launched an advertisement using the name of an agency called Country Reisen. By copying the name and logo of the travel agency, they gave out their details to make a down payment to buy a package tour. Fortunately, the tourists reacted promptly by calling the tour company to find out the details of the discount promotion – as it turned out, it did not exist. As a result, Country Reisen contacted eBay to remove the fraudulent ads on behalf of their company.
Tourists were once again warned not to trust attractive offers that appeared on social networks, sales platforms, and other places. Or at least double-check this information directly with the travel agency before buying at deep discounts.