A financial expert this morning touched on a number of scams that holidaymakers should be vigilant about.
Sharing the screen with step-in host Ranvir Singh on ITV's Lorraine this morning, Financial Times Consumer Editor, Claer Barrett, gave a litany advice to those feeling the squeeze due to the cost of living crisis, shortly before moving onto common holiday scams which could leave UK residents worse off in a time where money is stretched as is.
After speaking energy scams, Claer touched on fraudulent activity targeted at eager holidaymakers and jetsetters.
Read more: Warning as fraudsters use summer holidays and festival events to scam people
She said: "Everyone's looking for a bargain right now. If you're on a holiday website and you see a deal that looks pretty good, and the person days to you 'lets go off the website and pay via direct bank transfer and I'll give you a discount' it's bound to be a scam.
"Be very careful, it will take you an awfully long time to get your money back. If that happens to you, you may not get it back at all.
"Another thing to watch out for, hire cars. There's a worldwide shortage of hire cars at the moment and I've heard of people, maybe their passport says 'Samuel' but their name is Sam.
"They turn up at the hire car place and they say 'no your booking is invalidated because your name is wrong', sharp practice, rent the car out to the next customers."
While Claer was explaining the trick, Ranvir appeared to be more and more gobsmacked, before simply replying: "Wow."
On the topic of wrong names, Claer added that you may also receive an 'admin charge' should your name on your ticket and passport not match up. "The same applies for admin charges on flights if your name doesn't match your passport. So check that, save your cash," she added.
Read next:
- NHS warns Brits of Covid text scam that could steal your bank details
- The six signs that your Facebook customer might be a scammer
- Amazon Alexa could mimic voices of dead family members 'to make memories last'
- Cost of living: Struggling families are targeted by fast loan scam
- Five key rules to follow when booking a holiday to avoid being scammed
