Brits overseas warned over faux texts hitting telephones – you may lose £700
Need to know
Thousands of Brits travelling abroad for Easter are being targeted by sophisticated scam texts posing as Booking.com and hotels, with victims losing an average of £700
Holidaymakers have been warned about scam texts pretending to be airlines and hotels(Image: Getty Images)
Everything you need to know
- Thousands of British holidaymakers are being targeted by sophisticated scam messages during the Easter travel surge.
- Scammers are impersonating well-known platforms like Booking.com, airlines and hotels using real booking data to make their messages appear legitimate. These fraudsters often include genuine booking references, names and travel dates to deceive victims.
- Tech expert Philip Huthwaite warns: “When you’re travelling, you’re expecting updates… when something comes through that looks urgent, you don’t question it in the same way.”
- The scams have led to hundreds of cases in the UK, with around £370,000 lost and average losses of roughly £700 per victim. Huthwaite added: “We’ve seen people lose hundreds in minutes.”
- Key warning signs include urgent messages demanding immediate action, unexpected links asking for payment confirmation, and out-of-context contact from supposed providers.
- Experts advise never clicking suspicious links, contacting providers directly through official channels, and forwarding dodgy texts to 7726 for reporting.
READ THE FULL STORY: Brits abroad warned about ‘fake’ texts hitting phones right now – you could lose £700
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