Protect yourself against scam attempts and fraud

AVOID HOTEL AND TRAVEL FRAUD

Hotel and travel fraud can take various forms, from fake bookings to hidden charges. Scammers target exhibitors and attendees to solicit bookings at unauthorized hotels.

Unscrupulous third parties are increasingly trying to defraud conference participants.
An example is Global Travel via support@gtravelmanagement.com, bookings@gtravelservices.com and reservations@gtravelhosting.com.
Exhibitors and attendees can fall prey to accommodation offers from fraudulent companies.

The good news is scammers often follow the same patterns and use similar tactics. There are ways to protect yourself from these frauds, and the first step is knowing how to identify them.

Read below for tips on how to identify fraudulent offers and common scams.

How Does Hotel Fraud Work?

We have been informed that fraudulent companies are repeatedly contacting our event participants with offers for rooms or travel for the week of September 10-13, 2024. Their website, calls, and/or emails mention ETFA 2024, and may even include our logo in the hopes of looking like an official or legitimate provider.

Be advised that no legitimate representative (neither the Organizers, nor Sistema Congressi) of ETFA 2024 will ever solicit your credit card information via phone, email, or any other form of communication to secure hotel reservations.

Also, please be assured that ETFA2024 has not provided participants’ email addresses to this or any other company and does not publish participant emails online.

These third-party groups promote attractive deals with local accommodation providers, but once payment has been received, the company disappears and can no longer be contacted by phone or email. Once the attendee contacts the hotel directly about their room, they realize the hotel has no record of them or their stay. Not only is their money gone, but they must also then scramble to find last-minute accommodation, which is rarely convenient to the venue.

This practice takes money directly from our participants and negatively impacts their ETFA 2024 experience.

How to Avoid Fraud

These are some simple guidelines to avoid travel and hotel frauds:

  • If the offer is too good to be true, it probably is. Scammers often lure participants with incredibly low rates that are far below the market price, beware.
  • Book through our recommended/official hotel. We work to deliver consistently good hotel options for our participants.
  • Do not only rely on the presence of the ETFA 2024 name and logo on accommodation providers’ websites, as our name and logo are being used unlawfully. The only accommodation company recommended by ETFA 2024 is allowed to use our name and logo.
  • If using another supplier, thoroughly investigate all documentation regarding the company making the offer. Check carefully online to make sure they’re a reputable supplier with a history of satisfied, actual customers before sending any funds.
  • Use credit cards to guarantee your rooms, rather than wire transfers. If your supplier turns out to be fraudulent, credit cards typically offer some form of consumer protection, whereas wire transfers do not.

Reporting Incidents to ETFA 2024

If you think you’ve been contacted by a fraudulent company, follow the two steps below:

1) Contact Us. Email our conference manager at etfa2024@dei.unipd.it

2) Stop payment immediately. If you paid the scammer via a credit card, contact your bank or card company and request a stop payment.