November 25th 2022
Holiday swindlers: The rise of digital travel scams
by bbc news
Digital travel scams are a growing "systemic and global" problem, according to the World Tourism Organization, a branch of the UN. Dozens of Brazilian women have been finding this out the hard way, after paying for luxury holidays from a man whose Instagram account sparkles with opulent hotels and exotic locations.
Last December Maria (not her real name) decided to have a break from the heat of the Australian summer, and to take her family on a skiing holiday to Europe.
It was her first trip since the pandemic and she wanted it to be special. So she paid $20,000 to a travel agent, Rafael Bessa, a fellow Brazilian who had been recommended by a friend, and made the long flight north.
To begin with, everything was perfect, but as Maria checked out of the third hotel the manager told her the room had not been paid for.
At the next hotel it was a similar story: Maria had to settle the bill, even though she had paid in full already.
Altogether, Maria says she lost $30,000 on the holiday - $15,000 of the money she had paid in advance, plus an extra $15,000 for just one of the hotels. Maria says that as well as telling her he'd paid for the room, Rafael Bessa said he'd got her a free upgrade - but he hadn't, and the hotel charged the staggering full price for the super de luxe room.
Rafael Bessa's promises of reimbursement came to nothing, Maria says. Although he sent her various "proofs" of money transfers, the cash never actually arrived in her account.
Then, when she posted about her experiences on social media, she says his lawyer got in touch, offering to reimburse $20,000 as long as she signed a non-disclosure agreement. She refused.
The BBC asked Rafael Bessa to comment on Maria's allegations. He replied that there had been an unspecified "problem" with the price of one of the hotels, and that the room at this price had not been included in the package. He also sent copies of the train bookings - which, as Maria said, both bore the same purchase number.
Another Brazilian woman, Ana Jalenna, booked an Alpine skiing trip and also an Italian summer holiday with Rafael Bessa, after he had organised a "fantastic" family holiday for her in Brazil.
She paid part of the bill in cash, and the plan was that he would put the rest on her credit card. Some time later, she was surprised to see a payment to British Airways appear on her card account and called him to ask about it.
It was the payment for her Italian hotel, he told her. Finding this hard to believe, she emailed the hotel and was told no payment had been made.
Ana decided to ask Rafael Bessa for proof that he had at least made the bookings at the ski resort. He gave her two reservation numbers, but the hotel told her they were invalid.
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