Don’t fall for this latest travel email scam
It seemed like perfect timing – but it was a trap that cost a Lower Hutt woman $20,000.
In September last year, an email dropped into Anne's inbox out of the blue.
Signed from William Cobb, a senior manager at Gala Vacations, it promised "lucrative deals" offering 40 per cent discounts on international flights and 50 per cent discount on accommodation.
The timing couldn't have been better – Anne's niece was getting married in Britain at the end of March 2018.
A seasoned traveller, often jetting to Britain and the United States, Anne said she was lulled into a false sense of security when she went to the business's supposed website and saw offices and contact details listed in Auckland.
She contacted the woman listed in Auckland, and was referred on to an agent in Melbourne, who would book flights for her.
She booked two return business-class tickets for her and a friend to Britain for the end of March.
She paid the scammer via Moneygram, and received confirmation and an itinerary.
Two months later, Air New Zealand contacted her, to say the tickets had been cancelled as they were booked using a fraudulent credit card.
"What I did was stupid, and I won't ever do anything stupid like that again," Anne said. "If nothing else, people can learn from me."
Her travel plans were cancelled and she found herself $20,000 out of pocket.
"At 75, I can't make up $20,000.
"Somewhere along the line, somebody is going to have to take responsibility because it's happening often. It's happening all over the world."
For Netsafe director of technology Sean Lyons, Anne's story is all too familiar.
"We hear about [these scams] all the time. There are lots and lots of them out there, and it's not just this poor individual, it's all sorts of people from all sorts of walks of life."
Scammers often used a "random, scattergun approach" and their too-good-to-be-true offers may come right at the time someone was looking for flights.
He said it was common for scammers to work as part of larger organisations, setting up elaborate websites and running call centres.
For cases such as Anne's, he said the key thing to watch for was someone insisting payment should be made through a wire transfer service, such as Moneygram or Western Union.
"Bottom line – absolutely not. Stop at that point and get independent advice."
Written by Eleanor Wenman. Republished with permission of Stuff.co.nz.