Travel agents have been warned to be extra wary of ‘overpayment’ fraud after a real estate agency lost some $50,000 to an elaborate accommodation scam earlier this year.
The Perth-based agency, which deals with short-term and long-term holiday rentals, says they received a call last month from a man claiming to be from England, who requested to book one week’s accommodation for a Greek wedding party of eight people.
The man used the name ‘Colonel Michael Warner’ to book seven days rental, which according to the Consumer Protection, was paid for using several stolen American credit cards.
Workers were then asked to forward funds to a Greek interpreter booked for the wedding who they were told couldn’t accept credit card payments. Money was also transferred back to the fraudster who used tactics of a common ‘overpayment’ scam. However, the money was transferred before the agency realised funds from the credit card transaction had not been deposited into their trust account.
As a result, the real estate agency could be out of pocket for some $50,000.
Consumer Protection’s Acting Commissioner, David Hillyard, said an investigation is being carried out, but warned other accommodation and travel organisers to be wary and to do their research when refunding funds or accepting big jobs over the phone.
“These scammers prey on the desire of people working in the hospitality and services industries to help customers in whichever way they can.”
David Hillyard, Consumer Protection Acting Commissioner
“However, in this case, that mind-set has proven very costly for the business targeted.
He continued, explaining that it has become common practise to scam on accommodation bookings either by phone or on email using false of stolen credit details.
“The very best advice we can five to businesses is to do a bit of simple research first,” he said.
“A simple internet search would have raised serious questions in this instance.”
