Lessons on avoiding travel scams from James McAvoyActor James McAvoy made the news last week when he turned to Instagram to share how he almost got scammed out of $12,000+ while planning a family vacation to Spain. As People reported, McAvoy explained the incident to his fans in an effort to warn them in a short video, saying: “Hello, there! I’m James McAvoy. I have just avoided being scammed through a cyber scamming scheme online and I’m just making this video to draw your attention to it.”

Here’s his video:

It turns out that McAvoy was trying to book a stay at The Ritz-Carlton, Abama, in Tenerife. After an online search, he found a website that he says was “actually better” than the real hotel’s website. What made him eventually second-guess it—and not proceed with the booking—was that the deal seemed too good to be true and the site asked for payment via bank wire transfer.

In the spirit of James’s advice, today’s tip is to always pay for a travel booking with a credit card (not via wire transfer or debit card). In addition, as I’ve said before, if a deal sounds to good to be true, it’s usually a scam. If you ever find a travel deal or booking tool on a website that looks legit but is new to you, you should call the hotel directly to confirm the website is affiliated.

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2 Comments On "Lessons on Avoiding Travel Scams From James McAvoy"
  1. Wayne Brubaker|

    Just a joke here.
    Why does this actor use a laundry room to make his Instagram posts?

  2. Dianne K|

    Good to that he was not scammed. Too many “clones” of sites are appearing and many people are misled into believing they are legitimate.

    I always use a credit card to book a hotel, airline, buy anything online, etc. Much more protection for me that way.

    This became even more important that we used a credit card when booking a China Trip via Sinorama since it was a great deal. When their license to conduct business was revoked (which I just happened to hear about very soon after it happened), I had no problem since I immediately contacted my credit card company, letting them know about it. It was first they heard and I was told I shouldn’t have any problem since ONE – I paid using credit card and TWO – If they did not get a response from them, it would be good for me since the credit card company was going to include a “conditional refund” immediately into my account. Other people will get refund from a special compensation fund if they have proof of payment with a detailed invoice, which some people may not be able to locate. Sinorama has declared bankruptcy.

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