Beware The Voice On The Phone If It's Pitching You A Vacation You've Supposedly Won

Author: John Hack

Beware the voice on the phone if it's pitching you a vacation you've supposedly won

As annoying as telemarketers can be, they're often simply trying to do their jobs - many people just like yourself occupy such employment positions. However, beware of the unscrupulous and even fraudulent salesman. If you take a call where someone tries to tell you you've won a special vacation package for free, you might be the target of a scam.

One surefire way of narrowing down whether or not such an offer is legitimate is simple - did you enter a contest where a vacation or travel package was the prize? If not, its likelihood of being above board is considerably low.

Although telemarketing or mail-based travels offers that aren't scams do exist, they are less common than their fraudulent counterparts. Also remember that even if you actually did sign up for a vacation contest, that could still be part of the fraud.

You can keep a couple of things in mind if you end up being approached with such a suspicious sounding offer in the future. First of all, even though legitimate telemarketers sometimes incorporate hints that their offers are time-sensitive in some manner, if you're told this in relation to a special vacation package, this should bring your guard up.

Also be wary if the sales pitch isn't about something for free but something at a discounted rate. Travel scammers will use this method to sound more legitimate. Finally, if you go for it and the company sends you written terms and conditions to accept, if they sound noticeably different from what was offered over the phone, this is another warning sign.

The consequences of falling for one of these scams are serious. If you give up your credit card information and accept the offer, you could get charged with all sorts of fees that make a severe and unnecessary dent in your finances.

Have you ever encountered a suspicious offer like this?

In Brief

  • As annoying as telemarketers can be, they're often simply trying to do their jobs - many people just like yourself occupy such employment positions.
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