Be it booking a travel ticket or hotel; almost everyone prefers doing it online, as it’s very easy and convenient. But, if you are not careful when booking your vacation online; you end up having a very bad experience and you could lose your hard-earned money.
After you have booked a wonderful resort paying a lot of money online, you realize there is no such place and the website which published the advertisement has vanished.
A few months back, a Mumbai-based travel agency Alfa Enterprises duped 500 Haj pilgrims from several states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat of Rs 15 Crore.
According to a report from British travel agents, more than 5,000 people have been cheated in the year 2018 while booking a vacation online in the United Kingdom, with an average financial loss of £1,380 per person.
Recently, a woman was looking for a homestay and she called up a number which she found online. After some time; she started receiving many messages and photos from service providers whom she had not contacted.
Actually, her number had been passed to other service providers by the person she had contacted online. She was even asked to confirm her booking by sending an identity proof to a WhatsApp group that had a lot of other people. So, there is no protection of private information when you book a hotel room online which can lead to frauds.
You must be careful of offers which are too good to be true. Many websites come up with mind-blowing offers to cheat people. When you go there and check out the place, you see something entirely different from what you have booked.
Another danger of booking travel and accommodation online is identity theft. Many people do not check the authenticity of a website, before booking a holiday. This might lead to identity theft and the collected information is used to carry out fraudulent transactions.
Fraudulent websites even ask users to make bank transfers outside the website. This is actually a major red flag. Genuine websites will not ask you to transfer money to a personal bank account.
See Also: Be Cautious While Booking your Flight Ticket Online
1. While booking a vacation online; you must stay safe from unsolicited calls, messages and emails. Before you take any decision; double-check the authenticity of these emails. It is advisable to avoid suspicious calls and emails.
2. Make sure the website from which you are booking your holiday is safe and secure. Go through the reviews of the website and the place which you are planning to book.
3. Avoid using public Wi-Fi to make any transactions.
See Also: New Rules For Booking Tickets Online On IRCTC
Not happy with a product or service? Just visit IndianMoney.com’s complaint portal IamCheated.com and post your issue. We’ll get in touch with the concerned entity and help you with the resolution. With an aim to spread awareness on fraudulent activities, we publish articles and videos on a regular basis. You can also publish reviews about companies on IamCheated.com.
