Have you ever entered a drawing to win a free vacation at the grocery store or something? Then, you start getting calls that you won, but it really isn't as described. Another tactic is to tell you that you won, even though you realize that you never entered any contest for the prize you supposedly won. They ask for all your personal info, so they can get your prize to you, and then you never hear from them about it again. It's good to make sure you keep track of any contests that you do enter, to avoid getting scammed. This is especially true for the ones that want you to pay something. Don't lose your money.
Most of these scammers hide behind respectable concerns in order to mask their own intentions. There are instances when they require you to fill a survey complete with your password and email address. They then use this information to follow up on an aggressive sales pitch for a product but they use different identities from the one they contacted you with. If you respond to their sales pitch, they scam you further.
In my experience, these have usually been scams to get you to buy a timeshare or some similar bait and switch.
This is not a scam but a related story. Last year we bought a tour package to Batanes, a northern province. The package included the plane fare and accommodation. It was offered by a travel agency affiliated with my credit card so I was encouraged to take it. When we arrived in the destination, it was disappointing to know that we had no reservation on the promised hotel in spite of being indicated in our voucher. We were able to get another hotel with the help of the locals. But that trip is memorable for that semi scam. Until now we are not refunded with that mistake.
Did you hear about the vacation scam that left a child injured from gas leaking from a faulty boiler and the company responsible did not want to accept the blame. I always say, book your own holiday there's nothing much to it especially in this age of computers. If you cannot afford , wait until you can because there's no gain in the pain and misery that result from a so-called free holiday.
Booking your own holiday is always the safer bet. My mom got caught in a scam when she was ordering makeup from a customer rep. Once she was done placing the order, the rep told her she won a free cruise. I was with my mom at that time and it sounded legit to the both of us since the makeup company she was calling is a well known, reputable orginization. She was transferred to a cruise agent and had to tell her all her private info. Then the lady was asking her to set up a payment plan for the cruise. So much for being free. SCAM
