HSBC issues ‘clone’ travel scam alert and list of cities most at risk

Wakefield has been identified as one of the cities most at risk after HSBC issued a ‘clone’ travel scam alert.

HSBC has issued a warning about a rise in travel scams, advising customers to look out for “clones” of travel expert websites and fraudulent emails.

A substantial £12.3m was lost to holiday fraud in the UK last year and while Brits love a bargain especially when it comes to rip-offs, it can quite often lead to falling victim some nasty scams.

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In a recent statement, the bank said: “Spotted a last minute holiday deal on social media? Does the travel company only accept payment by bank transfer? Be careful – this could be a scam.

“Scammers create fake ads and emails to trick holidaymakers. Often they look to travel companies to trick people into visiting a fake site.” The bank added that these websites can look “very convincing” and some “may even be clones” of real travel companies.

He continued: “Fraudsters can ask you to pay for your holiday by bank transfer – this makes it much harder to get your money back.”

The number of people tricked into paying for bogus flights and accommodation is high. In 2023, Action Fraud received 6,640 reports of holiday fraud, largely due to more people looking for a cheap holiday deal due to the cost of living crisis.

New data collected by the expert PayFasto looked at a list of Google searches by every UK city (scaled per 100,000 inhabitants) to determine where people are currently looking for a holiday deal the most and is considered most at risk of holiday scams – and a Yorkshire town made the top 10.

Wakefield came ninth on the list with 5,033 average monthly Google searches for holiday deals. The UK city most likely to be at risk of a scam is Durham, with 14,754 average Google searches for holiday deals per month.

The second most at-risk and bargain-hunting town is Bolton, with an average of 6,885 holiday deals Google searches per month.

The third most searched town for a getaway is Warwick with 6,306 Google searches and the fourth is Croydon with an average of 5,597 searches per month.

Newcastle upon Tyne is in fifth place with an average of 5,250 Google searches for bargains per month, with Manchester following closely behind with 4,713 searches.

Birmingham, Plymouth, Wakefield and Stockport took the remaining places on the list.

The ten cities with the most searches for holiday deals on Google

1. Durham

2. Screw on

3. Warwick

4. Croydon

5. Newcastle upon Tyne

6. Manchester

7. Birmingham

8. Plymouth

9. Wakefield

10. Stockport

Dennis Pedersen, CEO of PayFasto explained that there are several ways tourists can help protect themselves. He said: “The figures from last year’s holiday fraud reports are shocking. One of the other common ways scammers will try their luck is in payment processing. No reputable travel site should ask you to transfer money directly to a bank account – all payments should be handled securely online.

“One way to pay securely online when booking travel is to use a credit card. Most major credit card providers protect online purchases and will refund fraudulent transactions under certain circumstances (always check with your card provider).

“Using a credit card also means that if your payment details are stolen, your main checking account will not be directly affected. Other ways to protect your account details online are using Google and Apple Pay and services like PayPal, as the company won’t see your details directly.”

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