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Wyndham Destinations say they are shaking up their timeshare product with new branding and Urban resort offerings.

Wyndham became an independent company last year and now the worlds largest vacation ownership company is launching enhanced club brand identities. The timeshare giant has launched modern brand identities for its flagship timeshare clubs, Club Wyndham and WorldMark by Wyndham.

Wyndham Destinations say they are leading the evolution of the timeshare industry by creating more destinations and more unique experiences for travellers by adding locations they want to travel to. Wyndham recently announced the grand opening of its newest resort in downtown Portland, … Read more

Officers raid properties and make arrests as part of multi-force courier fraud crackdown.

Teams from the North East Regional Specialist Operations Unit, Derbyshire Constabulary and the City of London Police have raided three properties across London as part of a multi-force crackdown on a devious scam which targets the vulnerable and the elderly, known as courier fraud.

Specialist officers from North East Regional Specialist Operations Unit and Derbyshire carried out the raids and officers arrested three men on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud. In addition to the arrest’s officers seized £1,800 in cash and took three men in … Read more

Jason Richards helped John Dodd’s run an illegal scam providing access to pay TV and premier league football matches.

They provided at least 270 pubs with access to a range of channels, police say the fraud caused losses estimated to be in the millions and lined their own pockets with at least £1.5 million.

The impact of these crimes was wide-ranging and caused financial damage to the FA Premier League, Sky, BT and publicans who did not sign up to be part of a scam service.

Dodd’s, 66, and Richards, 46, who admitted conspiracy to defraud after a prosecution by … Read more

Travellers are risking bankruptcy by failing to declare medical issues.

Experts have issued a stern warning, that failure to withhold health information to insurers could have devastating financial implications.

Speaking in a debate on under declaration of medical conditions Dr Paul Beven, managing director of Healix Risk Rating, Said: “You wouldn’t want to have the warning ‘Failure to disclose a pre-existing condition puts your house at risk’ on every page, but it’s important to get the message across. Always make sure you completely declare your medical conditions. It’s easy and simple to do it. And you will get offered a … Read more

Budget airline Ryanair says it plans to close some of its bases and will fly fewer passengers.

Ryanair has warned they plan to downsize and close some of its airport locations because of the delays to deliveries of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft. The airline says it will reduce the number of flights it operates next summer and now expects to carry 157 million passengers in the year to March 2021, rather than 162 million.

Ryanair said the shortfall in aircraft deliveries will mean “some base cuts and closures” for the winter and next summer, and it has started talking to … Read more

An elderly couple who were targeted by serial timeshare conman Frank Madden, say they are not expecting to see a penny of their money back.  

Basil and Judith Jones fell were conned out of almost £2,500 by Frank Madden and his fake holiday scam and have told ITV news how angry they are after being duped and how five years on they are no closer to getting their money back.

Mrs Jones said: “I was very angry to start with and hurt that someone could do that. But when we found out about his previous activities, we thought how could … Read more

The Government has admitted that thousands of people who fell victim to a Universal Credit Fraud, might have to be put back on the old benefits system.
It was revealed this week, tens of millions of pounds is believed to have been stolen by fraudsters, leaving genuine claimants owing hundreds. Criminals have been making bogus claims online possible through a loophole in the online system, whereby the fraudster makes an application and claims advance loans.

Brits can get up to 100 per cent of their advance claim ahead of time to stop them having to wait five weeks for their … Read more

Fraudsters stole more than £7 million from holidaymakers in 2018.

Action Fraud’s figures show more than 5,000 tourists were conned into paying for fake flights, non-existent villas and other scams. Figures released by Action Fraud show the average amount lost due to holiday fraud in 2018 was £1,380.

Travel trade organisation Abta’s chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The cost to victims is not just financial. This crime causes very real emotional distress. Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target destinations and times of year when demand is high and availability limited, as they know people will be looking … Read more

The Information Commissioner’s Office says it is issuing Marriott International a £99 million fine, for a huge date breach in 2014.

The data breach led the personal and financial details of some 339 million guests being stolen by cyber-criminals. The breach happened in 2014, but Marriott only discovered it in 2018. Marriott said 339 million guests had their information exposed, this included their names, phone numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, passport numbers and arrival and departure information. Some guests had their credit card numbers and card expiration dates exposed. CEO Arne Sorenson said in a statement: “We fell short … Read more

Action Fraud have issued a warning over counterfeit currency and the organised crime syndicates, making big money from it.

In 2018 alone, more than £10 million worth of counterfeit bank notes were taken out of circulation. This only represents a small portion of the 3.7 billion genuine bank notes in circulation, but police say it is essential they are reported.

Action Fraud reports that criminals are using social media platforms such as Instagram to sell counterfeit money, and sellers are offering notes at a reduced price, sometimes as little as a tenth of their face value. Police in West Yorkshire … Read more