Tens of thousands of Manchester City and West Ham football fans racing to book flights and hotels for next month’s European Cup final are being warned to avoid scams.
Financial protection scheme Atol issued a warning ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League final match in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 10 and West Ham playing in the Europa Conference League final in the capital. Prague of the Czech Republic three days earlier.
Demand for flights and accommodation in cities has increased since the clubs won their respective semi-finals.
Atol, run by the Civil Aviation Authority, is urging fans to check if bookings are covered by the scheme, buy travel insurance and avoid responding to texts or calls. Unwanted with incentives.
Advocates should also book by credit card in advance if possible as vendors are required to issue refunds in certain cases.
Michael Budge, head of Atol, said: “Unfortunately, major football matches often begin with particularly concentrated scams, including fake deals posted online and fake criminals. Be a reputable travel agent.
“We saw the impact this had last year on Liverpool fans.
“We don’t want to see people score an own goal and lose their hard earned money by cheating.
“We work closely with Fraud Action, Trading Standards and the police to ensure action is taken where necessary to prevent this from happening.”
Dozens of Liverpool fans have been scammed thousands of pounds in a ticket scam ahead of last year’s Champions League final in Paris.
Action Fraud, the UK’s fraud reporting centre, said earlier this week that £15.3m was lost to holiday fraud in the last financial year, more than double double the total amount in the previous 12 months.
The most common scams involve copying the websites of comparison companies, holiday providers and airlines, tricking victims into believing they are entering payment details on genuine websites. .
Fake confirmation emails are often sent, meaning some victims only realize what happened when they try to check-in for their flight at the airport and are told there are no bookings available. performed under their name.
There is also a growing trend of scammers using fake Atol numbers on their fake websites to give the impression that they are authentic and have passed regulatory checks.
