Jan Eddis usually spends Christmas with her family in Australia, which means she starts finding the best fares a year in advance. But last year she fell victim to a bogus travel agent.
An grandmother is warning others to be vigilant of bogus scams after falling victim of a cruel con which nearly cost her thousands.
Jan Eddis, 84, spends Christmas with her daughter Vallerie who lives in Byron bay in Australia, before jetting to Sri Lanka, where she spends a month every year. As usual, Jan – a seasoned traveller – began searching for the best fares to Australia a year in advance, in January 2024.
While comparing flight prices online, something she had done countless times, she received a call from a travel company, who she now believes managed to track her IP address – a unique number linked to the user’s online activity – and found her personal phone number.
She received a call from someone representing what she now knows to be a bogus travel company, offering her return business-class tickets for around £5,000 – compared to other fares which can range between £5,000 to £8,000. They even said she could pay in instalments, so Jan went for the offer.
She tells The Mirror: “I thought it was strange for a travel company to call me, but when I asked for their ATOL [Air Travel Organiser’s Licence] they sent it, so I thought everything was legitimate. What they were offering wasn’t ridiculously cheap either, so I didn’t think it was a scam. They said I could pay in instalments, which I now know airlines don’t do.”
Jan paid the full amount in six instalments. She made one instalment of £1000 then four at £500 and last one on in June last year for £670 by bank transfer.
She says: “When I made the last payment and spoke to someone at the company, they promised me tickets would arrive by email that evening, but they never came. The following day I called, but I couldn’t get through to anyone. Then the phone numbers stopped working, emails went unanswered and I knew something was wrong.”
Jan says the bogus company looked completely kosher, with the same banner and logos as a firm she normally uses. But, on closer inspection, there was an extra ‘s’ in the title. She says: “I was so angry with myself. I paid for the instalments through two different banks and I have managed to get my money back, but I had to show I carried out due diligence when making these payments, like asking for the ATOL certificate.”
Jan is no stranger to scam calls and has never been caught out before. She says: “I get calls all the time. People pretending there’s a problem with my computer, messages demanding urgent bill payments to someone pretending to be my grandchild and needing money to buy a new phone.
“Once, a man contacted me claiming to work on an oil rig. He said he was in love with me. I knew it was a scam, but I played along and told him at the beginning I didn’t have any money. He eventually told me to take a loan for £100k. I’m used to scams and attempted scams. It’s unfair, really. We work hard all our lives only to get targeted like this.”
Once she got her money back last year, Jan had to rebook her flights, which cost her £500 more as it was closer to departure date. Now Jan has switched to using the established travel firm Trailfinders and visits her local shop to book flights.
Jan, who lives in a retirement village, is now trying to raise awareness of scams and has teamed up with Ask Silver – a free scam checking tool. All you need to do is take a photo or screenshot of any email, website, or leaflet you’re worried about and send it to Silver on WhatsApp. Silver uses the power of AI to spot any red flags and provides suggestions for next steps on staying safe.
Alex Somervell, co-founder of Ask Silver, says: “Sadly, Jan’s experience is far from unique. We see so many cases where a single convincing scam is enough to make people withdraw from technology altogether.
“But it doesn’t have to be that way. With tools like Ask Silver in their back pocket, people can feel reassured that someone is double-checking the fine print and looking out for the red flags. It means they can keep living their lives, stay connected, book trips, use technology, all without the constant fear of being caught out.”
Here are some top tips to spot a fake website, suggested by the Government website:
- Bargain prices on high value items or incredible returns on investments – especially if they’re using language designed to hurry you
- Asking you to pay by bank transfer instead of credit card, debit card or trusted third party payment provider (e.g. PayPal)
- A domain name (also called the URL or website address) that doesn’t look quite right – check closely as it might look very similar to a real one or include a trusted big brand name
- No website security on payment pages – if there’s no padlock symbol or ‘https’ in the URL (website address bar), your data won’t be sent securely
- Very little company information on the ‘About us’ or ‘Contact us’ pages
- No returns policy, privacy policy or other terms and conditions
- Poor quality photography, graphics or page layout
- Spelling and grammar mistakes
