Roskachestvo: schemes of sales of fictitious tours and air tickets

As a rule, people plan their vacation in advance. Tour operators are aware of this and offer to buy trips in advance at bargain prices – the earlier, the cheaper. The swindlers have stepped up their activity on this occasion. They act according to one of the schemes: they create sites imitating the known travel agency, fake official sites and pages in social networks, they sell “special” tours.

HOW TO BE CHEATED ON THE INTERNET?

The twin sites

Cybercriminals duplicate the design of a well-known travel company or airline. Stake on the company’s recognition. People trust it, which means that there is a probability that their vigilance will fall asleep, and they, having believed, will make a purchase on the fraudulent site. There have been cases when scammers copied the airlines’ corporate style and offered to pre-register for a fee and book additional services. They write off money from the account, but people learn about the fraud only at the airport.

Fake sites

Scammers try harder and create a full-fledged website of a hotel, boarding house, travel agency. On it you can find information, photos, descriptions and contacts. They will keep in touch with you until they receive payment.

Special tours

The main area for fraud according to the following scheme – social networks and all the same sites of non-existent travel agencies. People are lured in by offers of unique, customized tours. Scammers promise to arrange them at discounted prices because they supposedly have “their own channels”.

Aviasails press service:

“As our data show, there are more cases of fraud before the vacation season. So, in the summer of 2021, the experts of the service True Ticket.The data from the Aviasails, Roskatchestvo and Brand Security joint project showed a 7.5-fold increase in fraudsters’ activity compared to spring of the same year. To save your money, buy tickets only from official sources, and if you are not sure of their authenticity, check the site in the True Ticket service.rf, which is designed to check and block fake airline ticket sites. The result of the check will be immediately displayed on the site or come to the user’s email after the analysis of the resource by the specialists

THE FIRST SIGNS OF A FRAUDULENT SITE

Look carefully at the address of the site. Check whether the site uses the “https” protocol and whether it has a valid security certificate. Check yourself a date of registration of the domain can be with the help of Whois-services, such as whois, nic, reg and others. If it is less than two weeks since you registered the domain, you should not buy tickets on this site.

View information in About, Contact, Security Policy. For a complete list of great deals, don’t be lazy to come to the office to talk to a manager in person. Do not hurry to believe the pretty pictures and words on the sites. Check and analyze any information. Avoid shopping through social networks and Telegram channels, don’t click on links you may receive.

If you buy a tour from a fraudster, you should immediately contact the police. The maximum amount of the provided proofs – from payment information to screenshots – increases the chance of getting your money back.

Sergey Kuzmenko, Senior Digital Product Testing Specialist at Roskachevo:

“We have already told you about the dangers of phishing sites. From the side of fraudsters nothing has changed, the scheme of deception through the clone sites, as well as through social networks, is again in circulation. In addition, cybercriminals create entire networks of virtual travel agencies with reviews and phone numbers of support services to arouse the maximum confidence of the potential victim. All hosting and call centers, of course, are not in America. You should always be alerted to large discounts on full prepayment. If you are offered to pay by wire transfer or electronic purse – it is almost always a fraud. And, of course, do not be lazy to look for reviews of the travel agency or a ticket agency.