AS tourism and travel pick up following the easing of Covid-19 movement restrictions, more travel agencies are complaining of falling victim to scammers who use their company names and information to cheat customers.

Among agencies catering to the Chinese-speaking market, there were just four of them reporting such activities by scammers in June, but a month later, 41 agencies have had similar experiences, according to We Holidays managing director Joannes Vee.

Vee’s own company had the same encounter. Around mid-June, the agency’s customer service hotline began receiving a stream of calls from prospective holidaymakers asking about their package for a resort stay on Pulau Redang.

However, her agency was offering no such package.

“We learnt from customers that such a package was advertised using our company name and image on Facebook. We then found out that a social media page had been created to look like our company’s official Facebook page.”

Vee spoke to other agencies and found the problem to be more prevalent than expected.

“At first there were only four cases, but now there are as many as 41,” she said.

One person even came to demand for money back. Vee said her agency had to call in the police and also get the help of a lawyer.

To date, her agency has received complaints from 10 people about such deception.

The use of social media is just a different play on what scammers have been doing for some time with legitimate tourism agencies, Vee added.

Previously, fake travel packages in the name of legitimate agencies were sold on an e-commerce platform. Creating fake social media accounts is also an easy way to advertise packages and a quick means of raking in the cash, Vee said.

BeeFlyz Holiday sales manager Dephine Lim said such scams have been rampant since the launch of the Langkawi tourism bubble last September. The scheme was discontinued on April 1 when Malaysia reopened its borders to international travellers.

“At that time of the Langkawi tourism bubble, many consumers were fooled. They called our company and said that they had already paid, but we had never made such sales and had not received any funds.”

Veronica Chin, head of Perfect Holidays Sabah, said there were even cases of tourists who actually made the trip to the destination, only to be left stranded upon arrival at the hotel they had purportedly booked.

This happened to consumers who fell prey to a fraudulent tour package to Semporna, Sabah.

“Consumers finally sensed the red flags when there was no tour group to receive them at the airport, or they went directly to their supposed hotel but found there were no reservations. By then, it was too late,” Chin said.

She added that Perfect Holidays Sabah has had its social media accounts hacked by scammers.

“Some potential customers made enquiries, saying they saw information about a travel package on our new Facebook page. We then found out that 99% of our information had been stolen by scammers and used to place advertisements on social media (using a fake Facebook page).”

Chin said she lodged police reports and also requested the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to shut down the fake Facebook account.

“However, MCMC said they could not and that we had to deal with Facebook ourselves.”

Most of the packages sold by scammers are for domestic travel and local destinations, with prices ranging from several hundred ringgit to over a thousand ringgit, said Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association Johor chairman Tay Kian Chuan.

“So long as the price is not too high, people will let their guard down.

“It is to entice those who are eager to travel especially after movement restrictions for the pandemic have been lifted and now that the economy has reopened. Everyone just wants to find cheap packages to travel.”

Tay advised consumers who buy travel deals on the internet to put in more effort to confirm the information they see, including making calls to confirm their booking and even to call the Tourism Ministry to check if the company selling the package is legitimate.

BeeFlyz Holiday’s Lim, however, feels that scammers are “too good” these days at tampering with information, and making calls to check may not yield any red flags.

“I think it’s better if consumers shop around with more travel agencies and compare prices for the itinerary and arrangements they want. If the prices do not vary too much, buy from the agency that has a physical store.

“Finally, when remitting money, remember to pay it to the company’s Sdn Bhd account,” she advised.

Agencies are now trying to think one step ahead of scammers and anticipate their next modus operandi, Tay adds.

He believes that asking consumers to download mobile apps to purchase travel packages might be the next method, and urges people to be wary when they receive such invitations. – July 13, 2022.