Planning to travel? Police warn of fake travel agent websites

At least 35 people have lost at least $34,000 to travel scams this year, said police.

The police have observed an increase in scams involving the non-delivery of travel-related services, including visa applications, arrival card applications and flight bookings made through fake travel agent websites.

In these cases, the victims would access fake travel agent websites to make their travel arrangements.

The websites would prompt the victims to key in their personal details and payment card details to obtain the travel-related services they sought. After keying in their details for the first time, victims would receive more e-mails prompting them for more information to complete their application.

Victims would realise that they had been scammed after checking with the relevant authorities and companies, and discovering that their applications and purchases were never processed.

The police advise taking the following precautionary measures:

• Check with official sources such as the Singapore Tourism Board (www.stb.gov.sg) and the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (www.natas.travel) if the vendor is an accredited travel agent.
• Purchase only from authorised sellers or reputable sources. Buying cheap tickets from resellers is risky - If the price is too good to be true, it probably is.
• Refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s website (https://www.mfa.gov.sg/Where-Are-You-Travelling-To) to ensure that you are using the correct website for your applications to travel out of Singapore.
• Refer to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority’s website (https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-depart) for entry requirements into Singapore.
• Report any fraudulent credit or debit card charges to your bank and cancel your card immediately.

If you have any information related to such crimes, please call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent police assistance, please dial
‘999’.

For more information on scams, you can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688.