Travel Booking Fraud Guide: A little caution while doing online travel booking can save you thousands of rupees. Right website, secure payment, genuine reviews and direct verification, these 4–5 steps protect you from fraud.
Nowadays, it has become very easy to book flights, hotels and holiday packages online, but with this the risk of fake websites, fake agents and payment fraud has also increased rapidly. Many times people transfer money due to pressure of cheap offers or early booking and later realize that the booking has not been done. In India too, I4C of the Home Ministry has issued an alert regarding such online travel booking scams. If you keep these 5 things in mind, you can avoid online travel fraud to a great extent.
Check the website and app name carefully
First of all, carefully check the name and link of the website or app through which you are booking. Many fake sites create names similar to the real website, with small changes in spelling for example booklng, makemytripp-offer or adding extra words to the name of a larger website. Such websites look absolutely real, logo, photos, reviews are all original. Therefore, do not trust just by looking at the looks. Always check https and correct domain name in the URL. If the link comes from WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram or Facebook ad, be extra careful. I4C has also warned about travel scams through fake websites and social media pages.
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Never make payment in personal UPI or bank account
This is the most important thing. If any agent tells you to “do UPI on this number”, “send money to this personal account”, or “give advance immediately”, then be careful. Genuine travel websites usually take payments through secure payment gateway, credit card, debit card or verified UPI merchant. It is very difficult to get back the money sent to personal account. Therefore, always use credit card or trusted app payment, so that you can get the facility of dispute or refund if needed.
Read reviews and ratings carefully
Before booking, don’t just check the price, but also read the reviews. Try to read recent reviews, especially from the last 1–2 months. If all the reviews are in similar language, seem very perfect or have only 5-star reviews, then they may also be fake. Also check the agency or hotel on Google Maps, social media pages and independent review platforms. Sometimes real pictures and comments of users tell a lot.
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Confirm directly with the hotel or airline
Do not rely solely on the agency’s confirmation message after booking. Call the hotel, airline or resort directly and ask if your booking appears in their system. Verify with them PNR, booking ID or reservation number. Many times scammers send fake confirmation mail and ticket PDF, but the actual booking is not created. Such ghost booking cases have increased significantly.
Don’t book immediately because of very cheap offers
If any package is available much cheaper than the market rate, like “70% OFF”, “last 5 minutes deal”, “international package half price”, then do not pay the money immediately. Many times such offers are made only to make people make quick payment. Remember too good to be true deal can often be a scam. First compare the prices on other websites and only then make the booking.