SINGAPORE – Days after travellers reported an online travel agency to the police for allegedly swindling them of more than $1 million, another purported tour company has emerged with a similar ruse.
“Travel Key” (translated from Chinese) pushes colourful ads on Facebook promoting trips to Kundasang in Sabah, Malaysia, at discounted prices of $436 for a four-day trip.
Travel agencies in Singapore typically price similar trips at $500 to $700, according to itineraries available online.
The Straits Times posed as a customer and contacted Travel Key, and was soon greeted cheerily by sales consultant “Issac” via WhatsApp.
Speaking persuasively in Mandarin voice messages, Issac fielded concerns about Travel Key’s legitimacy. He claimed the company is based in Malaysia but operates as an unregistered agency to evade taxes. Issac said this helps to keep prices low.
In the messages, Issac also sent screenshots of bank transactions purportedly made by other customers, as well as a “guest list” with 39 names, claiming these were people who had already booked the tour package.
He also applied pressure tactics to close the sale for an $872 trip for two. He said payment had to be made within 15 minutes to secure the limited slots available.
“If you keep deliberating, you’ll never be able to go on the trip,” he said, adding that the 11 slots left were selling fast.
Between March and May, at least 48 victims paid for purported travel packages with a sham travel agency that had posted similar ads on Facebook.
The victims were cheated of $1.7 million in total, said the police on Thursday.
ST understands that the online travel agency involved is FL Holidays.
The agency is now uncontactable and its Facebook page has disappeared.
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