There are scammers who have created clones of the front page of tourism platforms in order to drive users to their own environment to carry out billing and fraud.
The phenomenon of electronic fraud it is not just about specific sectors. It is unfortunately generalized and it can destroy the plans of a traveler who will only see his money flying and to an unknown destination.
There are not a few cases where users are led to an unsafe digital environment, thinking they are making payments on official pages, and end up falling victim. However, in the era of the digital revolution, the consumer cannot help but use all these pioneering tools that facilitate and help him organize his life, as experts say, but it is good to be suspicious when he sees suspicious signs or blatant offers.
As explained by Konstantinos Mandes, electrical engineer, computer engineer and cybercrime expert, “as it happens in all areas of business, so too in electronic platforms the phenomenon is intense and especially during the tourist season and as it happens in all digital media, so in accommodation booking platforms are creating scams. Digital tools are leading the way and users should continue to trust and use them.” But what should consumers be aware of? “When they put in their card details to make a reservation, they should pay attention to the authentication on the website. The certification is distinguished by some seals that are on the website, where there are accreditations from European security and data protection organizations as well as transaction security. They should therefore be careful, when entering their credit and debit card details, to be in a secure environment and to have observed the website security tokens and secure transaction environment”, notes Mr. Mandes and adds: “There are astute people who have created clones of the front page of tourism platforms in order to drive them into their own environment to carry out the billing and fraud they have planned to carry out. In order for someone to understand that this is the official page of the platform, they should do a test with some information that is not the real information of their card, even if they change a digit, so that they can see if there is any communication with the specific secure environment , that is, to see where the next step is that the specific website is taking them. In case of fraud, a message will appear that the transaction is not approved and that the information is not valid, but it will not redirect to the same page, the official».
Another simple procedure, as he mentions, is to use a prepaid card that does not have a large amount and is with a certain limit, where approval will be given with a code from the user’s mobile phone. What they should pay attention to is to see that the approval request comes from that particular platform and if not, not to proceed with the process.
“We should generally be suspicious and have a security valve activated through our mobile phone or email for our transactions. Be careful that the redirection of the page takes place in a secure trading environment. They usually “turn” some bars that tell you that you are heading to a secure banking environment, while we don’t see this happening on the fraudsters’ pages. It is also good to not enter the official platforms as visitors but to have created a profile to see the movements and thus in case of fraud to have a “head start” in finding that it is the result of malicious activity. And of course there is always the option to pay at the accommodation“, explains Mr. Mandes.
However, if someone is a victim of fraud, then the procedure according to Mr Mande is to email the official platform informing them of the incident, contact the Cybercrime Directorate and then the bank that holds their bank account to claim his money.
According to Cyber ​​Crime fraud complaints in cases involving online booking platforms usually concern cases where the astute ones impersonate an accommodation page and the money goes to fraudsters. “We don’t have too many complaints about tourist sites, but they do exist. However, not all of them are reported to us and elsewhere. We do not distinguish between scams. We generally classify them as scams with fake sites, and there are quite a few of them,” says Vassilis Papakostas, Director of the Electronic Crime Prosecution, to the Athenian and Macedonian News Agency. “What we as Prosecution say to the people is to choose the official pages and where this is possible to confirm it with a phone call, that is to do a market research and verify in another way. If he can’t understand, direct communication is a good way,” points out Mr. Papakostas. As he even emphasizes, there are cases where “all this is so “well-made” that even the connoisseur can step on it”. It is also important, as he explains, “to see where the account we deposit the money is, the origin, and to verify with the hotels if the account is the right one before proceeding with the deposit.”
For his part, Lysandros Tsilidis, President of the Federation of Greek Associations of Tourist and Travel Agencies (FedHATTA) states that “it is a fact that with the internet we observe many “stories”, but this does not mean that we will live in fear. It is good for every traveler to take care to find the best way to avoid such evil spirits. We know that there are fraud and hacking phenomena, and we experience it every day. We say that if the traveler has the desire and wants to travel and go to organized licensed companies that are certified by European legislation and by our agencies and provide insurance coverage for their consistency and solvency, to do so. We protect our work through our work with consistency and continuity“, underlines Mr. Tsilidis and points out: “There have been complaints to the Federation that some people are selling services to grab money and we have pointed this out to all travel agencies to be careful. Because some malefactors, which are not allowed in the 21st century trade rules, operate against travelers as well as professionals, as they have happened to do this to professionals and not just individuals».
The consumer, as Mr. Tsilidis explains, must beware of announcements with suspicious offers that urge the person to close it at that moment to win the opportunity. “The consumer should be careful what he buys, be suspicious. There are malicious people who do not belong in the space. It is a phenomenon that occursnotes Mr. Tsilidis and emphasizes that “the consumer must be careful and not be susceptible to blatant opportunities, where very expensive products and services are sold at paradoxically low prices”.
Source: Skai
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