Avoid costly holiday scams, travellers urged

Travellers - including those on holidays to Thailand - should take care to ensure that they do not fall victim to scams.

By Southall Travel -Wednesday, February 25, 2009 04:05 PM

Avoid costly holiday scams, travellers urged

Travellers - including those on holidays to Thailand - should take care to ensure that they do not fall victim to scams.

This is the advice of financial services provider LV=, which carried out a survey and discovered that 21 per cent of people from the UK have been the victim of a con within the last five years.

On average, the cost of scams such as rip-off timeshares or scratchcards - which led travellers to believe they had won a prize, but instead tried to con them out of as much as £3,000 - was £250 per person.

"Not only can cons cost money but they can ruin a trip, so we are offering advice on steps to take to avoid ending up out of pocket or on a tour that you don't want to be," said Emma Holyer, spokesperson for LV=.

The firm's tips include only booking trips with reputable companies that can offer appropriate credentials.

According to estimates from the Office of Fair Trading, around 400,000 holidaymakers from the UK are hit by travel scams in various guises every year.
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