The recent report from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau showed that fraudsters managed to extort up to £2.2 million from the holidaymakers of the United Kingdom over 2014 in online scams. For example, cyber criminals, who wanted to extort cash from unsuspecting customers, targeted online booking companies. In this case, people discovered they have been cheated only upon arrival at their accommodation, when they were surprised to find out that no booking has been made for them.

A number of industry players, including a travel association, the police and the government-backed Get Safe Online service, warned the public to be cautious when booking a holiday online.

According to the report, one member of the public lost as much as £62,000 in a fraud connected with a bogus timeshare scheme. The most alarming fact is that losses were not only financial, as 1/3 of victims said that the fraud severely affected their health and financial wellbeing. More than 150 victims also claimed that they had to receive medical treatment in result of the crime.

In most cases, there are spikes of reported fraud during the summer months and before Christmas, bringing a lot of disappointed holidaymakers. People aged 30-50 are most commonly targeted. Most of the victims paid via bank transfer or cash, which means that there was no way to get their money back. Just a small percentage paid by bank card, where some form of redress is available.

The statistics show that over 1,500 cases of holiday booking fraud were reported to the police within a year. These are usually cases of fake plane tickets, hacking accounts, posting bogus advertisements on the Internet and running dodgy sites. The report revealed that sports and religious trips were an attractive target because of limited availability and higher prices. For example, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and World Cup in Brazil were targeted last year, where lots of people have paid for non-existent accommodation or tickets.

One case especially stands out: a family traveled for 5 hours to spend a week-long break in Cornwall, for which they paid £1,500, and there they found out that the website had been hacked and the bank details altered. As a result, they could not use the accommodation or get their money back. Then, an expensive trip of 3 generations of the same family to Istanbul was ruined when their £2,500 booking was taken by a fake travel agent.