GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The cold Michigan weather may have residents dreaming of warm beaches or a new adventure.
If you need an excuse to book a trip, January 25 is National Plan for Vacation Day, according to the Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan (BBB).
However, before jumping online to book a flight or rental home, the BBB is advising residents to take steps to avoid being scammed.
“Scammers create fake booking sites and customer service numbers to trick travelers into making arrangements that don’t really exist,” President & CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Western Michigan Lisa Frohnapfel said. “Doing your research and knowing the scam tactics these cons use can help consumers avoid scams and have a worry-free vacation.”
One Western Michigan woman recently reached out to the BBB after losing money to one of these scams. She had used a booking service to plan her vacation, but needed to make changes.
She did an online search for the company’s customer service number and called the number she found, not knowing that number was a scam.
The fake representative asked her to pay for her itinerary changes using a gift card.
After she gave the fake representative the card information, he asked for more gift cards. That is when she realized something wasn’t right.
She was able to contact the real booking service, who confirmed it was a scam, but the scammers got the money loaded onto the original gift card.
The BBB…
