For Roland Jones, a summer trip to Disney World was meant to be a chance to create happy memories with his grandchildren. Instead, it began with a stressful battle to recover money from what he believes was a fraudulent flight booking website. The resident of Goshen, Indiana, is now enjoying his holiday in Orlando, but only after disputing charges linked to a travel booking that raised immediate concerns.
Jones said he was searching online for flights to Orlando when he found a website advertising special offers on airfare. After completing the booking process, he received an unexpected text message later that day.
'I booked it, and that same night I got a text message that said my flight was pending, and I needed to pay $400 to secure the flight,' Jones said. Concerned by the request, he contacted the company.
'I tried to call them. When they answered the phone, they told me that my flight was pending. I had to pay an extra $400 to get it. I said that didn't sound right,' he explained.
Jones requested to speak to a supervisor and was told someone would call him back. According to Jones, no one ever returned the call.
Suspecting he had been targeted by fraudsters, he disputed the charge through his credit card provider and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
'I think the website itself is a scam,' he said. 'You think you got a flight, but you don't actually have a flight.'
Dr Chris Simpson, director of National University's Center for Cybersecurity, said travel scams often follow seasonal patterns, with criminals taking advantage of increased demand during holiday periods.
'Scams seem kind of seasonal, right?' Simpson said. 'A lot of it is typically related to airline travel, but recently there's been an uptick in hotel and booking types of scams, where people will do some type of fake booking, fake hotel site, and try to scam people that way.'
Simpson warned that artificial intelligence is making many scams appear more authentic than ever before. 'With AI, it's really easy to copy a website,' he said. 'You take a popular hotel brand and just change one letter.'
Source: International Business Times UK
