From identity theft through to dodgy holiday clubs, Mike Peake reports on the tricks conmen could pull on YOU this summer

There was no more terrifying a sight growing up than seeing your old dad hop and fume after realising he’d been shortchanged by the flirty fish-andchip woman on the promenade – although his fury at being charged 50p to rest his weary bones on a deckchair came close. Today’s holidays are no less of a minefield, only this time the money grabbers and conmen are out in bigger numbers, and they don’t just want the shrapnel in your pocket. So take a careful look at that lithe, friendly fellow who gives you a nod as you step out of the taxi, and be on your guard if your hotel phone rings in the middle of the night. The holiday scam bad boys are everywhere.

1 The long-lost friend

“What do you mean you don’t recognise me?” says the stranger, offended, but offering a smile. “I work on the reception at your hotel.” Suddenly, the chirpy man does seem oddly familiar – but that’s because this scamster has a habit of wandering from hotel to hotel and simply hanging around to get his face seen by tourists. “What happens next is he’ll ask for a favour,” says travel writer Richard Dobbie. “Something like borrowing €20 for fuel because his car has just run out. Of course, he promises to give it back when he next sees you in the foyer of the hotel!”

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2 The phoney voucher

Have a look on any well-known auction site and you’ll see hundreds of travel vouchers for sale. There’ll be a great story, like: “I was awarded this €500 voucher, because the stewardess on my flight called me a fat-ass!” You could be tempted by the opportunity to buy it for a fraction of its face value, but “be very careful”, says Charlie Abrahams at brand protection company MarkMonitor, which has just conducted some research into travel scams. “People are very gullible when it comes to travel vouchers, many of which are not transferable and some of which are simply fakes.”

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3 The late-night reception call

Former cop Kevin Coffey, who now spends his time trying to tell people how to stay safe and avoid getting fleeced, reckons thousands of people fall for this every year. “It’s late, you’re in your hotel room and the phone rings,” he says. “It’s the desk, who say there’s a problem with your card. Could you re-read your number and expiry date? And could you just confi rm the spelling of your name?” What’s actually happened is that some random stranger has just called your hotel, asked for room 213 or 354 or whatever, and pinched all your credit card details. Genius.

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4 The two-for-one

Rampant blogger Terry Jones started writing about street scams he’d encountered in Barcelona back in 1996. Today, he lists dozens, but our favourite is the one where you are handed a flyer for a fantastic twofor- one deal at a local restaurant. Says Terry: “You order two of their juiciest offerings only to find that the offer has expired. What do you do? You change your order to just one, and hand over your money.” The punchline? There never was a special offer. Doh!

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