The high season in Turkey has caused the country to be flooded with a wave of scams against tourists. The main fraud schemes were supplemented by massive car rental fraud. The scheme is the same as with hotels – fraudsters create fake sites that look exactly like the original ones. As a result, at least 5,000 tourists fell for their bait in Turkey this year alone. By the way, at the same time, Turkish hotels are waiting with horror for a wave of lawsuits from allegedly injured tourists who fraudulently make your vacation free.
“Fraudsters not only continue to copy hotel booking sites, adding new methods to their activities. With the increase in tourist traffic, fraud is also observed in the field of car rental. Fraudsters accurately copy the websites of car rental companies, redirecting users to fake sites,” Turkish media reported. Next, users are required to subscribe to the specified account. Tourists willingly pay moderate money and face the reality only when they arrived on vacation when they discover that not a single car is waiting for them in Antalya. The victims are mostly foreigners, experts add.
According to Adnan Maziji, chairman of the 46th professional committee of the group, which includes members of the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who are engaged in car rental and related services, the number of victims is increasing rapidly. “Last year, 2,000 tourists became victims of fraud. This year we surpassed that number early in the season and it continues to grow. About 5,000 frauds have already been recorded,” he said.
They go on to guide tourists, voiced by Cathy Vorobets, managing director of UK Finance Economic Crime, who said: “Fraudsters are masters at impersonating people and trusted organizations. Be suspicious of offers and prices that are “too good to be true, and if they’re too low, ask yourself why,” Turks are quoted as saying.
Let’s add that the Turks themselves are afraid of counter-scams as soon as tourists start returning to their countries en masse. A whole industry has already developed in Great Britain and Germany. Its employees are lawyers who wait on tourists at airports, with an attractive proposition: “You can get part of the money paid for a vacation, if you want, by complaining about a spoiled vacation.” Hotels in Turkey, as well as in other resort countries, are trying to fight this business – and, as the Turks assure, there is an effect, those involved in fraudulent organizations have been fined large sums, up to imprisonment. However, the fears of hoteliers remain.