HSBC issues warning over 'clone' scam naming 10 UK towns and cities most at risk
A staggering £12.3million was lost to this type of scam last year.
HSBC has issued a warning about a rise in travel scams, advising customers to be on the lookout for “clones” of travel expert websites and fraudulent emails.
In a recent statement, the bank said: “Have you spotted a last-minute holiday deal on social media? Does the travel company only accept payment by bank transfer? Be careful – this could be a scam.
“Fraudsters are creating fake adverts and emails to scam holidaymakers. They often impersonate travel companies to trick people into visiting a bogus website.”
The bank added that these websites can look “very convincing”, and some “may even be clones” of real travel companies.
It continued: “Fraudsters may ask you to pay for your holiday by bank transfer – this makes it much harder for you to get your money back.”
Sharing guidance to avoid this kind of scam, HSBC advised people to be careful for deals that come “directly” to them, especially if out of the blue. Additionally, people should always research the travel company and check if it’s protected by ABTA or ATOL.
It explained: “You can do this by searching on the ABTA website, ABTA website, or by entering the firm name and reference number on the ATOL database.”
Households lost a substantial £12.3 million last year to holiday fraud. While Britons love a bargain, these often lead to falling victim to scams.
New data collated by expert PayFasto analysed a list of Google searches made by every UK city (scaled to per 100,000 of the population), to determine where is currently seeking a holiday deal the most and is deemed most at risk of holiday scams.
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Among the keywords considered were ‘travel packages’, ‘holiday deals’, ‘cheap last-minute holidays’, and ‘cheap airline tickets’.
The UK city deemed most likely to be at risk of a scam is Durham with 14,754 average Google searches for holiday deals per month. This is more than double the searches made by the runner-up city.
The second city most at risk and searching for a bargain is Bolton, with an average of 6,885 holiday deal-related Google searches per month.
The third city most on the lookout for a getaway deal is Warwick, with 6,306 related Google searches, and the fourth is Croydon, with an average of 5,597 deal-related searches per month.
Newcastle upon Tyne places fifth with an average of 5,250 Google searches for bargains per month, and Manchester follows closely behind with 4,713 searches.
Birmingham, Plymouth, Wakefield and Stockport make up the remaining top 10 areas in the UK most at risk of falling victim to the scam.
The 10 cities with the most holiday deal Google searches
- Durham
- Bolton
- Warwick
- Croydon
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Manchester
- Birmingham
- Plymouth
- Wakefield
- Stockport.
