Bogus Travel Agents and other scam warnings

Bogus Travel Agents

Warwickshire Trading Standards is warning residents to beware of bogus travel agents after receiving complaints. Travellers have reported booking flights and accommodation with travel agents, sometimes after being approached via instant messaging, and then paying by bank transfer. Money is taken but nothing is booked, and travellers have reported losing thousands of pounds.

If you are booking flights or accommodation, here are some tips:

• Use a genuine bona fide travel company. If you are booking online, beware of cloned websites (and links to them) or approaches via instant messaging. Visit the traders’ genuine website by typing the correct web address into your web browser.
• Try to pay for your holiday using a credit card. This gives you additional protection for purchases over £100 and under £30,000 if for example the trader goes bust or simply disappears.
• Check to see if the trader is ATOL registered. The ATOL scheme (which stands for Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing) is financial protection that protects you when you book a package trip that includes a flight. Check your trader here
• If a holiday deal seems ‘too good to be true’ it may just be that!

Fakes Sold Online

Warwickshire consumers continue to report losing money after buying designer goods online that turned out to be fake. Some websites selling designer goods appear genuine, but consumers end up receiving fake products, or none at all!

Tips to avoid buying counterfeit branded goods sold online.

• Only buy from genuine traders and consider going on recommendation if you can. Visit the website by typing the correct web address into your web browser. Beware of links in emails and on social media to bogus or cloned websites.
• Check the website before you buy. Visit Get Safe Online and use their Check a Website feature.
• Be suspicious of products advertised at very low prices.
• Scam websites are sometimes only 'live' for a relatively short period of time before they are shut down, either by the scammers or law enforcers. Check to see how long the website has been in existence and consider doing extra checks if it was only recently created, especially if the business claims a long trading history. The 'Check a Website' feature (above) may help in this regard.
• Try to pay with a credit card. This gives you additional protection for purchases over £100 and under £30,000 if for example the trader goes bust or simply disappears.

Scam White Goods Repairer

Looking for someone to repair you washing machine or other white goods? Beware of scam repair companies that can pop up on internet searches. Warwickshire Trading Standards has received complaints about bogus traders who take hundreds of pounds up front to repair kitchen appliances, only to disappear. If you are looking for someone to repair an appliance, know who you are employing, if possible go on recommendation, agree upon a price before any work is started and don’t pay until the work is completed.