Passengers have been warned that a scam could ruin your Christmas trip – and an expert has shared how to avoid getting caught out.
Ilana Schattauer, from Life Well Cruised, said this scam is something that she hopes nobody will have to be a victim of. But holidaymakers have increasingly reported being victim to this one scam in particular.
She said the sneaky scams could cause people to lose a lot of money if not noticed.
The main trick, which takes advantage of vulnerable passengers, targets tourists’ social media accounts. Schattauer warns that in Facebook groups, people will post asking to organise a ‘slot-pool’ with other passengers they are sailing with.
This means that passengers put their money together to play in the casino on board the ship and see if they can win.
While this does happen between genuine players, scammers are asking people to send them money straight away before boarding the ship for the ‘slot pool’ – and more and more are falling victim to this scam.
Another scam which is taking place on Caribbean cruises is that while walking around in cruise ship destinations, a person will approach passengers saying ‘Hi, I was your waiter on the cruise ship, do you remember me?’
Following this, the person, who is not really a waiter, will encourage the passengers to visit a shop or restaurant in the area.
While nothing bad will necessarily happen, cruisers are tricked into spending money in places they might not have otherwise picked.
One final scam which is increasingly happening on Facebook groups is that scammers are posing as men who enjoy cruising and who are looking to build connections with other cruisers.
Users behind these profiles build up a rapport with others heading to the ship and Schattauer concludes that the profiles are controlled by catfishes.
By keeping an eye out for these scams, cruise passengers can enjoy a holiday free from fraud or losing large amounts of money.