Posts

Everyone should get travel insurance as soon as you have booked a holiday. Too often, people book holidays and leave the insurance until last. But what if you book a holiday, then get ill and can’t travel? The airline wont refund you, the holiday company wont help and you’ve lost your money. One of the main purposes of travel insurance is to cover you in case of illness, injury or the death of a family member.

Holiday makers who jet off without buying travel insurance could end up regretting it, as research shows failing to buy cover could cost you … Read more

The High Court order the compulsory liquidation of scoundrel pension companies for misusing millions of pounds of pension savings and scamming up to 520 pension savers.

 

Fast Pensions LTD and five other related companies have been closed down in the interest of the public by the High Court. The official receiver in the Public Interest Unit North division is now the liquidator in charge.

The Insolvency Service discovered that 520 pension savers were tricked into investing £21 Million in 15 pension schemes, which now appear to be bogus.

Between 2012 and 2013, 520 people were rascal into transferring their … Read more

A Terminally Ill woman and her husband have lost £53,000 in lifesavings to fraudsters who posed as Santander Bank staff.

 

Carol and John Williams, both in their 60’s, were planning to use their life savings to purchase a new property, after Carol Williams was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

The scammers called Mr Williams on his mobile phone. Mr Williams was not alarmed by this, at first, as the number appeared on his phone screen as Santander Bank.

“They told me £15,000 was being taken out of my account by a Stephen King in Dundee, they said they needed Read more

Home-sharing websites, such as Airbnb and HomeAway, have been giving the holiday industry a run for its money of late, with many choosing to book through their easy to use online services rather than the more established holiday companies.

Marriott International have been piloting a home-sharing program which began in April. They risked into the market on a six month trial, in collaboration with UK based home rental company Hostmaker.

Marriott already have 6,500 hotels and 110 million loyalty program members and are determined to grow even bigger by entering the home-sharing market.

Marriott have launched ‘Tribute Portfolio Homes’, which … Read more

‘Don’t Miss A Trick, Be Scam Aware!’

Citizens Advice, Trading Standards and partners across the consumer protection landscape are leading an anti-scam initiative throughout the month of June, for Scams Awareness Month.

The campaign is all about supporting partnerships nationally and locally to give consumers the skills and confidence to identify scams, learn how to protect themselves, their families and friends against these cruel crimes and predatory practices.

This huge cross agency initiative will include social media campaigns and community events, engaging members of the public and arming them with information to better protect themselves. It is incredibly important to … Read more

The financial watchdog, the FCA, wants to crack down on high-cost-credit, an issue which effects more than 3 million people in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority has announced plans to cap fees in the rent-to-own market, where you can but furniture or appliances by way of weekly or monthly payments, at a high interest rate. They also want to crack down on doorstep Borrowing , where the lender comes to your home and collects payments. It also wants stricter regulations on catalogue shopping, which also charge an extortionate amount of interest on the goods they sell. On overdrafts, the … Read more

A 37 year old man from Orlando, Florida stands accused of running a nationwide, fraudulent Timeshare scheme from his apartment.

David Jolly has been charged with Fraud nearly $90,000. Victims say they thought he was selling their Timeshares, but it was all an elaborate hoax.

Jolly is currently being held in jail, as he could not afford the $60,000 bail bond to be released until his hearing. In the US, when a defendant is arrested and charged, a court will set a dollar amount, known as a bail bond. This is required so as to prevent criminals fleeing before they … Read more

The Birmingham brothers have been ordered to pay back “Hidden Assets” or face an additional 15 months in prison.

Brothers Amarjit and Shivjit Bagharian, from Smethwick, were both jailed for seven years in February 2016 after admitting a Scheme to defraud topping £1 Million. Operating under 2 bogus companies, Sun Properties Solutions and Avon Client Services, they duped over 38 victims into handing over money in exchange for timeshare abandonment services, even promising their victims could obtain a handsome return on their investment.

However, the duo made no effort to sell timeshares, nor had any intention to do so. Instead … Read more

As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, officials are warning the public to be extra alert when booking holidays, tickets and insurance as scammers set their sights on targeting new victims.

We are constantly being warned about the latest scams and being careful online, but the pandemic has seen the biggest increase in callous scammers looking to target people, even in the toughest of times. Since the first lockdown began over a year ago reports of scams have increased and now just as lockdown restrictions begin to ease, experts are warning we need to be even more vigilant when looking to … Read more

Back in 2017 Mr and Mrs Bunton were called by CLC world and told they had won a free night in a hotel. The offer was very appealing as it was a short drive to a luxury hotel in Cheltenham. They agreed to accept their ‘prize’ and very much enjoyed their stay at the hotel, however, the following morning they were shocked when they were forced to sit through a long presentation about holiday points membership. The hard sell lasted from 10 am to 4pm that day, incredibly they managed to resist the pressure and not sign up to the … Read more