Most students work hard to get all the exams passed. Once that happens, a vacation is long due and flyers posted all over the campus, the school announcement boards, or on the facebook walls, look very tempting. Headlines such as “A spring break trip well deserved” or “Student discount” might catch their eye, offering great deals for amazing prices.

Unfortunately, it has been reported that several of these deals are fly by night operations, where scammers set up websites with stolen information and pictures from real companies, and add their own phone numbers.

Rushed with phrases such as “15 spots available left!” or “Offer expires this Friday”, the victims call to book the trip and pay the crooks without even questioning the veracity of the business.

How to avoid: if you find a good deal, always double check the source, the website, and the reviews (if possible) – in every detail. If the website is cloned, look at the browser tab, it should have “https” instead of just “http”. Does the domain name look legit, such as a pure name of the business, or does it have spelling errors?