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Recently, I heard a story about a friend’s mother here in the British Virgin Islands who was ripped off at an ATM while withdrawing some funds. The person did not realize that scam artists had placed a false front card-skimming device over the machine’s card reader. Unsuspectingly, after inserting the bankcard the person using the ATM had their banking information collected via a magnetic card reader and then the stolen data was transmitted back to the perpetrator. Within a week or so the unaware victim received a notice from the bank saying that the account balance was zero and that they had traced unauthorized purchases on their card to Jamaica. After hearing this story, and because the summer travel season is upon us, I thought I would do a little research and post some information on travel scams and rip-offs.

Travel scams can be a nightmare and depending on how badly you are affected, getting ripped off could drain your bank account, ruin your credit, negate your financial ability to take a vacation, and at the very least cause one big headache. According to the better business bureau, “the travel industry consistently ranks among the top twenty five industries that watchdog groups monitor for fraud.” The following is an abridged list that I found at budgettravel.about.com and it points out some key scenarios, which might lead you to believe that the travel telemarketer on the other end of the phone, or the tour operator sitting right in front of you, is trying to sell a scam:

1 - Advance payment is required without a written contract.
2 - Transactions are conducted by courier service rather than post office.
3 - Transaction can only be carried out by telephone.
4 - Offer is for a “limited time only (60 days is the time limit for disputing credit card charges at many banks).
5 - Different names for travel provider and seller.
6 - Hotel names, airlines or other vendors not disclosed in writing.
7 - A price far below market value (remember if it is too good to be true….it IS).
8 - Offers to make you a “travel agent” or reseller of vacations.
9 - Hints of “Split Pricing” which is the practice of offering below-market pricing and then adding charges for items that appeared to be included in the first quote.
10 - Frequent use of words such as “complimentary” and “free.”

If you are traveling this summer and would like to do some further reading the following are some resources you might find useful:

•  Tips for Traveling Abroad - http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/tips_1232.html
• Worlds most common travel scams - http://www.googobits.com/articles/1365-the-worlds-most-common-travel-scams.html
• Tips to avoid being taken - http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters87.html

Next post will be on Monday and will include  - Sneakers, a dog, and of course travel.