By PAUL MU
KOTA KINABALU: Unsuspecting consumers have been warned to be cautious of unusually cheap holiday packages promoted on social media platforms.
The warning came after two consumers were cheated out of RM50,000 and RM18,000 respectively after booking cheap overseas tour packages.
“The scam only came to light after one of the victims telephoned my office to follow up on a Canada tour package,” said a Sabah travel agent who only wanted to be known as Alan.
“The victim was looking for a person known as William, but we do not have any employee by that name.
“That was when we realised someone was using our company’s name, and the victim realised he had been cheated,” he said.
Alan, who has since lodged a police report, also advised the victim, who is from Kuala Lumpur, to do the same, but he was too embarrassed for fear of public shame.
Based on the modus operandi, Alan believes the scammers are targeting victims in Peninsular Malaysia as the Facebook account originated from Kuala Lumpur.
“After discovering the scam two weeks ago, we began monitoring their activities, which are still ongoing. The person behind it is somebody very familiar with how travel agencies operate,” he said.
He said the scammers cloned his Facebook account, which remains active despite being reported.
He said the scammers are believed to have used a third-party bank account, which was later found to have been closed after collecting payment.
Alan said the scammers even conducted video calls with victims, falsely claiming he was their business partner.
He said that after he shared his police report on Facebook with sensitive details blurred, the scammers managed to remove the blurred portions to reveal his name.
“They even told victims that I was trying to sabotage them.
“They manipulated my police report and convinced victims that they were the ones who lodged it. They played the role of an innocent victim,” he said.
Alan urged the tourism authorities to strengthen enforcement against travel-related scams.
“This has tarnished the reputation of travel agencies and affected consumer confidence,” he said.
“Going on holiday should be one of life’s happiest moments. Being scammed is heartbreaking because all the planning and savings disappear within seconds,” he said.
Alan explained that legitimate travel agencies normally require only a minimum booking deposit.
He said full payment is usually collected between 25 and 60 days before departure after airline tickets have been issued and travel itineraries have been confirmed.
“Scammers cannot follow this procedure because they need to collect full payment immediately before closing the bank account.
“Their travel agency licence also carried an unusual name with ‘Trading’ added after ‘Sdn Bhd’,” he noted.
Pic for illustration purpose only.
