At minimum 35 persons have misplaced at minimum $34,000 to vacation ripoffs this yr, said police.
The police have observed an maximize in frauds involving the non-shipping of journey-associated expert services, which includes visa programs, arrival card programs and flight bookings produced via faux vacation agent sites.
In these instances, the victims would accessibility pretend journey agent websites to make their journey preparations.
The internet websites would prompt the victims to key in their individual aspects and payment card details to attain the vacation-connected companies they sought. After keying in their details for the very first time, victims would receive a lot more e-mails prompting them for much more facts to finish their software.
Victims would realise that they had been scammed soon after examining with the suitable authorities and organizations, and discovering that their programs and purchases ended up never ever processed.
The police advise having the following precautionary measures:
- Check with formal resources this sort of as the Singapore Tourism Board (www.stb.gov.sg) and the Countrywide Affiliation of Travel Brokers Singapore (www.natas.vacation) if the seller is an accredited vacation agent.
- Invest in only from authorised sellers or respected sources. Buying affordable tickets from resellers is risky – If the cost is way too excellent to be genuine, it almost certainly is.
- Refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s web-site (https://www.mfa.gov.sg/Where-Are-You-Travelling-To) to make sure that you are working with the accurate web page for your applications to vacation out of Singapore.
- Refer to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority’s internet site (https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-depart) for entry requirements into Singapore.
- Report any fraudulent credit history or debit card charges to your financial institution and cancel your card right away.
If you have any information and facts linked to this kind of crimes, make sure you simply call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or post it on the web at www.law enforcement.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be saved strictly confidential. If you call for urgent police aid, make sure you dial
‘999’.
For much more information and facts on cons, you can pay a visit to www.scamalert.sg or phone the Anti-Rip-off Hotline at 1800-722-6688.