67/08    28 May 2008

The OFT is warning holidaymakers flying out to Spain about the dangers of bogus holiday club scams which cost UK consumers millions of pounds a year.

The OFT Scambusters Team and officers from Manchester, Solihull, Gateshead and Luton local authority trading standards and the Central England Trading Standards Authority (CenTSA) are today handing out thousands of fake holiday club scratchcards at Manchester, Birmingham, Luton and Newcastle airports. The scratchcards, which resemble the type handed out by bogus holiday club touts, ask 'have you won a luxury holiday?' Like most bogus club scratchcards, all the cards are 'winners', and contain three 'winning' matching symbols, but the prize turns out to be 'a trip to a lengthy sales presentation and a chance to pay thousands of pounds for membership to a bogus holiday club'. Staff from the European Consumer Centre in Spain will also be at the arrivals area of Malaga airport to reinforce the message about holiday clubs, and hard hitting advertisements have been placed in the baggage hall and in the Thomas Cook inflight magazine which will be seen by thousands of holidaymakers.

Research has shown that this is a peak time for consumers being targeted by bogus holiday clubs, with the average victim losing over £3000. Every year thousands of UK consumers fall for this type of scam at resorts such as Benalmadena, Fuengirola and Marbella on the Costa del Sol, and in the Canary Islands. Consumers are typically targeted by 'scratchcard touts' who hand out bogus winning cards to holidaymakers. To collect their prize they are forced to attend a lengthy presentation and persuaded into signing a contract for an 'exclusive' club on the basis of false claims as to the price, range and quality of holidays available. After spending thousands of pounds, consumers often find they have bought little more than access to an internet booking service offering the same service they could get at a high street travel agent.

Holidaymakers who are approached by a scratchcard tout or go along to a presentation should ask three simple questions:

• Can you take away the contract to consider at your leisure?
• Is everything you are promised in the presentation in the contract?
• Do you know exactly what you are getting for your money?

If the answer to any of these questions is 'no', then the OFT advises to simply walk away.

Mike Haley, OFT Head of Consumer Protection, said :

'Every year thousands of holidays to Spain are ruined when holidaymakers fall for the high-pressure selling techniques of bogus holiday clubs. When they return home they realise they have paid thousands of pounds for near worthless contracts.'

Interviews and case studies of victims of bogus holiday clubs are available to press.

NOTES

1. Recent research commissioned by the OFT involving 11,200 interviews estimated that bogus holiday clubs cost the UK public millions of pounds a year.

2. OFT research shows that 78 per cent of bogus holiday club victims are aged between 35 and 64. The average loss per victim is £3,030.

3. The OFT and representatives from enforcement bodies in Spain, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and France have joined forces in an EU funded project to combat the problem of bogus holiday clubs through targeted enforcement action and consumer education initiatives.

4. Scams are an OFT priority. Two years ago the OFT launched the Scambusters team and set up the Scams Enforcement Group with partner organisations focusing on law enforcement; consumer education; and cooperation with private sector businesses to disrupt scammers' routes to market.