Council joins forces with OFT to smash £1 billion holiday con

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Trading standards officers from Renfrewshire council are joining forces with the "Scambusters" team from the Office of Fair Trading, in a bid to smash a £1 billion con believed to claim 400,000 UK victims each year.

The joint team will be at Glasgow Airport's departure lounge on Friday 12 October to warn local sun-seekers about the dangers of bogus holiday clubs.

Bogus holiday clubs are advertised as a flexible alternative to timeshares. They promise a lifetime of discounted holidays anywhere in the world, but fail to deliver. Many consumers find that after spending thousands of pounds all they have bought is access to an internet booking service.

Many consumers are approached while on holiday by a ‘scratchcard tout’ and find that to claim their winning scratchcard prize, they must attend a high-pressure, sales presentation about a new holiday venture.

Councillor Marie McGurk, convener of Renfrewshire council’s environment and infrastructure board, said: "We want to alert people to these bogus holiday scams. Our advice for holidaymakers is to be wary of these scratchcard touts and, if you do go along to a presentation, ask the company three simple questions;

• Do you give cooling off rights?
• Is everything you promised in the presentation included in the contract?
• Can I take away the contract to think about it in my own time?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then just walk away."

Anyone who wants more information about these holiday scams should phone 0141 840 3184.

Press release: Wednesday 10 October 2007