The economy is bad and you are already hesitant to go away on vacation, yet you know the hazards of not taking that much needed time off. You book your trip, pay your deposit, hop on a flight, and your nightmare begins!
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, consumers are defrauded out of millions of dollars every month by travel and vacation scams. These scams are usually characterized by unrealistic low prices or free or exclusive offers.
Scam-artists have many methods and techniques for depriving you of your hard earned money, but by becoming informed about how these scam-artists operate you can learn to identify when you may be getting set up and protect yourself. Here are three tips to help get you started.
Tip #1 Be aware of the buzzwords associated with travel and vacation scams. Offers filled with buzzwords such as free, guaranteed, you’re eligible to win, vacation offer, you’ve just won, something for nothing, last chance, today only, and so on. Don’t be seduced by the words, any offer that is good, valid and mutually beneficial doesn’t need to seduce the consumer. A good offer only requires an...