{"id":165738,"date":"2016-12-09T14:13:57","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T04:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=165738"},"modified":"2020-09-30T10:11:47","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T00:11:47","slug":"watch-out-for-holiday-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/09\/watch-out-for-holiday-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Out For Holiday Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Police have warned about a holiday accommodation scam – most complaints have been about Gold Coast holiday accomodation (Photo: Gccec2012 \/ Wikimedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December 9, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the festive season fast approaching, police are warning people about a new scam targeting consumers who access accommodation provider websites.<\/p>\n

The scam occurs when consumers submit email inquiries in relation to securing accommodation over Christmas and New Year.<\/p>\n

Scammers ask the consumer to pay a deposit directly into a bank account to secure the accommodation. If the victim later tries to contact the scammer, there is no answer to calls or emails.<\/p>\n

Acting Detective Superintendent Terry Lawrence, from the Fraud and Cyber Crime Squad, said the scammers would often go to great lengths to \u201csell\u201d the accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scammer will go above and beyond to secure a sale, emailing back and forth with the consumer, but once a deposit has been transferred all communication ceases,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge all consumers to be cautious before acting on any emails received.<\/p>\n

“Triple check that the URL, website and email address are correct and be aware that links may redirect you to a fake address.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAsk to speak to someone on the telephone if possible, and be wary of any email asking you to directly transfer money into a bank account.<\/p>\n

“Never click on links in these emails and do not reply to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of complaints received so far have involved consumers specifically seeking accommodation on the Gold Coast over the Christmas period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police are urging consumers to be vigilant when conducting any transaction online, and recommend the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Only use a reputable accommodation provider website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • Look for reviews of the accommodation provider as well as the accommodation you are interested in booking prior to making a transaction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        \n
      • Do not pay directly into a bank account \u2013 use PayPal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • Always check website and email addresses. Scammers often use near-identical email addresses with only the \u2018.au\u2019 missing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            \n
          • Contact the accommodation provider by telephone if possible<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Police are warning about a new scam targeting consumers accessing accommodation provider websites<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":165780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,24,10],"tags":[1132,1130],"yoast_head":"\nWatch Out For Holiday Scams - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the festive season fast approaching, police are warning people about a new scam targeting consumers who access accommodation provider websites.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/09\/watch-out-for-holiday-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Watch Out For Holiday Scams - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the festive season fast approaching, police are warning people about a new scam targeting consumers who access accommodation provider websites.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/09\/watch-out-for-holiday-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-09T04:13:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-30T00:11:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/20161209scam2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/09\/watch-out-for-holiday-scams\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/12\/09\/watch-out-for-holiday-scams\/\",\"name\":\"Watch Out For Holiday Scams - 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