According to a McAfee study, 40% of French people say they have already been victims of a scam when booking a trip abroad. Here are some tips to outsmart them and avoid getting scammed.
1 – Check the presence of the padlock in the address bar during payment
Renting a house, booking a hotel room or a travel package… The reflex to have is to always look at the top of your screen, where the site address is on which you would like to order a service. We must be particularly vigilant to the presence of a small padlock at the time of payment and note if the address is preceded by an https. In the absence of these details, it indicates “the site does not encrypt the information and does not benefit from an authentication certificate issued by a reliable authority. It therefore does not proactively protect sensitive user data.“, explains the Avast anti-virus software. Moreover, adopting double authentication for your payment card can be a way to be reassured.
2 – Take your time!
Everything is done to encourage you to book as soon as possible. A traveler has just booked a room or there are only two rooms left available, there are only two seats left on the flight… It must be said that this type of mention puts pressure, especially since travelers have remember that prices, especially in the air, can fluctuate depending on the day and / or by dint of connections. Do not panic ! The best is the enemy of the good, and there is no rush. According to the anti-fraud website, which offers lots of advice on how to avoid being scammed during the holidays, misleading statements such as “guaranteed at the best price” or “promo” are not allowed to be . And if supposedly there is only one room left, nothing beats a visit to the hotel’s direct site to check if the reservation is playable.
3 – Compare reviews from various platforms
If for some travellers, reviews have become essential tools for decision-making before booking – according to TripAdvisor, they are used by 96% of consumers, there is still a part of the French population that does not use them. In 2019, a study conducted by the Trustpilot customer review platform indicated that 17.8% of French people never, if not rarely, read reviews before ordering their trip. If the experience of travelers deserves to be consulted before any reservation, the important thing is above all not to rely on a single review platform. Reviews compare as much as prices. “Some review managers remove some or all of negative consumer reviews in favor of more positive reviews. This widespread practice can go as far as the outright deletion of any negative opinion. Other review managers publish positive reviews very quickly while postponing the publication of negative reviews, resulting in a majority of positive reviews appearing among the most recent ones.“, indicates the DGCCRF.
This allows you to take a step back from a sum of opinions, and you can also protect yourself against false comments. On this subject, one should not suspect all opinions. In its recent so-called “transparency” report, TripAdvisor demonstrated how easy it was to spot false comments – and therefore to delete them by its team of moderators. An algorithm does the cleaning while human verification adds another layer of security for consumers.
4 – Check that the vacation rental does indeed exist
A house with a swimming pool that can accommodate the whole family or a small dream apartment offering a full view of the big blue at an ultra-competitive price. It’s tempting! Better to check the veracity of the announcement by sending an email to the owner if not by checking his contact details either through social networks or with a simple online directory. In the case of accommodation offered by a professional, it is simpler, with the register of the commercial court. You can also request additional photos and the exact address from the lessor, as recommended by the PAP.fr website. For its part, the Bitdefender anti-virus software gives a good lead by offering to identify inconsistencies and spelling or grammar errors to protect against a possible scam.
5 – And keep your feet on the ground!
The last rule of thumb to keep in mind for any vacation plan is to always take a step back from the offers you find. Unless you enter contests or sweepstakes via social media, you are unlikely to be offered a free vacation (unfortunately). In their innumerable advice, all anti-virus software issue a consensus on this subject. “Beware of unsolicited phone calls, e-mails and text messages trying to sell you an amazing vacation for immediate payment. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a scam.“, hammers Norton.