Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel agent collapsed into liquidation at the end of last month, sadly taking 9,000 jobs with it. The Civil Aviation Authority is in the middle of a rescue operation to bring holidaymakers back home.
Scammers have targeted such ‘events’ in the past in order to catch out customers, and this is no exception. There have been numerous reports of fake websites, and scam emails and telephone calls claiming to be from Thomas Cook offering compensation for holidays, staff wages and so on.
Our advice is to be vigilant when receiving any correspondence apparently from Thomas Cook, and follow the steps below when checking emails and websites:
- ‘Spoofing’ is a popular technique amongst fraudsters, so double check for any spelling irregularities in the sender’s address on incoming email. Some malicious emails may appear to come from people you know.
- Hover over links to websites (‘hyperlinks’) to look for anything peculiar about the address (though this can be difficult to determine). To avoid clicking on potentially dangerous links, enter website addresses into your browser manually.
- Legitimate – and security
conscious – businesses will never ask you for personal information or account
credentials via email (and you should never supply if asked).
- Be very cautious opening attachments, and simply don’t if you have reason to suspect any. Harmful attachments are common and can have serious consequences if opened. Delete the email.
- Verify that websites are secure
by checking for the padlock icon located on the browser address bar, to the left
of the address. If you are unexpectedly asked to submit any account credentials
or personal/sensitive information, this could be an indication that the site’s
a fake.
“Customers should visit the dedicated CAA site https://thomascook.caa.co.uk/ for information about compensation claims.”