Consumers warned not to fall for fake holiday home scams

Holidaymakers have been advised to carry out amateur detective work to ensure they do not book into fake accommodation this summer as research showed a third of travellers had seen an increase in potential travel scams on social media.

- Julia Kollewe

Consumer experts have urged holidaymakers to do a reverse image search on photographs of holiday homes and check their locations on an online map to verify they are real.

People may be booking in a hurry this year as many have left it later than usual because of uncertainty over the impact of the Iran war, increasing the risk of falling victim to an online or telephone scam.

Some of those caught up in flight cancellations and delays at the start of the Iran war have already been victims of scams.

As well as fake holiday accommodation or flights, people may also be offered tours that do not exist, while scammers sometimes copy photographs from legitimate websites and often ask for bank transfers.

George Ralchey, the head of risk at the payment service provider emerchantpay, which commissioned the research, said holidaymakers were being targeted by social media scammers “looking to take advantage of the peak travel season”.