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IRISH PEOPLE TRAVELLING abroad have been warned to be extra wary of scammers and dishonest traders operating in the Canary Islands, with reports of people losing as much as €7,000 in credit card scams.
The European Consumer Centre (EEC) issued the warning to Irish holidaymakers today, telling them to be extra vigilant and to “watch out for unscrupulous traders when abroad.”
The warning comes as a number of Irish people who have travelled to the Canary Islands have reported incidents where they have been lied to, subjected to ‘aggressive selling practices’, and in some cases had their credit cards significantly overcharged.
In many cases, elderly people are the ones who are targeted.
Examples of types of scams include a woman who had bought a tablet for €160 while in Spain and paid for the device on her credit card.
She was asked to pay again for “broadband and additional services” and was unknowingly charged €5,000.
In another case a man bought a number of electronic goods and was charged €5,000 – far more than they were worth.
Martina Nee, press and communications officer with ECC Ireland warned people travelling abroad to be vigilant.
“Scams have always posed a problem for consumers and they take various forms,” she said.
While there are many legitimate traders in the Canary Islands and other holiday spots, there are others who have used very manipulative tactics.
So be vigilant, don’t be too quick to hand over your personal details, and always use a secure method of payment such as a credit card.
Question everything
When travelling and shopping people are told to:
Anyone who feels they have been caught out by a scam are told to contact the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation on 01-6663777 upon their return to Ireland.
Hold on doesn’t everyone know that when you go to the Canaries you DO NOT bad electrical goods from those lads.
This is a well known scam and highly published buy travel agents reps when you arrive in the canaries.
you van actually get some decent electronics there if you are careful. I have a 2MP camera we bought in Lanzarote for trips and things. It is about 10 years old or more, actually, but works perfectly. too low value to be stolen, durable and takes great quality pictures.
Best thing to do is research before going so you know what you want, plus an acceptable price point, then you have all the control.
an island full of police informers who sing to the police does not sound like me type of holiday
Is it worth going to a country that wants to rip you off all the time, just ban on going- hotels won’t be long in stepping up their security.
There are branded electrical items that look like they are great value but they are not. In Europe they use superior components in the products and have a serial code ending in E or something similar, depending on the company.
Most of the goods in the Canaries end with a different serial number like W (meaning lower grade components, designed for the Asian markets) and as a result are not covered under warranty in Europe.
This applies to most of the main stream electronics manufacturers.
Simple rule – don’t buy in the Canaries.
Good point about the “mark” to look out for. Be careful with “CE” and “C€” the former being Chinese the later European.. I’m not accusing the Chinese of anything nefarious or anything … after all the Chinese are a great bunch of lads.
no. CE is the European one. CCC is the Chinese lookalike mark. If you have anything that says “C€” on it you can be sure its a hell of a lot less reputable than anything with “CCC” on it.
And the word is “latter” not “later”.
If you ever feel the remotest bit of undue pressure from a salesperson, turn on your heels and walk out the door. It’s not being rude, it’s being shrewd.
Don’t understand why as yet an electronic payment doesn’t trigger an automatic SMS receipt to your phone if the cardholder wants one
Now THAT’S a good idea.
I’ve thought of that before, would it be easy enough even for the likes of tescos to do on your weekly shop.it’d save on paper as well.
UK cards over that
They do that in China. But card security in general is much more robust, because it needs to be.
They do it in the UAE, its great, I don’t have to worry, works for any transactions and you can limit the amount that yuo get notified for. Also saved you having to keep receipts except for purchases you may want to return.
Amex does exactly that and it’s a great service. The sms arrives within seconds. Other credit card providers should really do the same, especially as sms tends to always work even when roaming abroad.
Yep the Middle East banks offer this service every transaction from you mastered
Card and bank card sends an sums to you phone showing where it was spent the company you paid to and the amount . With SAAB back Saudi British bank and they offer a next level service where if you pay with your card they send a 6 digit code to you phone before releasing payment so you can see the amount and who your paying to and then use the code to confirm the payment to the card this way your always in control of your payment and can easily catch a scam .
Yeah, They have this in the US. Very handy indeed. You get the text or baking app notification within seconds of the transaction… often before you have the card back in your hand. Great feature and easy to implement.
*banking app
If a €5000 transaction went on my card the bank would automatically block it. I would have to call them to confirm it was me making a purchase.
If it went on mine their machine would catch fire :)
Visanta are the only electronic retail stores in the canaries that are bone fide and recommended by all the travel reps …. I’m not being racist but the majority of the other electronic retail units are owned and run by Indians and Pakistanis … And are the most likely to rip you off .. Speaking from personal experience here …
Avoid handing over your credit card ? Thats what your card is for, buying stuff. Surely the credit card company just charge back the fraudulent transaction !
Keep your card in your own hands. Go to the card reader and use it. Dodgy sales people may swipe and copy your card when they have it then clone it, and use to purchase stuff for themselves.
So the powers that be want the world to become a cashless society so they can keep an eye on us and what we spend our money on but yet they are telling us not to hand over our credit card… Cant win…. By the way when in a doggy country all ways use your credit because its the banks money you are spending not yours if someone robs money off it its not your problem unlike a debt card were it is actually your money that was rob and i can guarantee the bank is not near as concerned tracking down your money or getting it back.
Cards have chip and pin so you shouldn’t need to physically hand over your card, I think that’s what they mean.
I know its about credit cards, but im just saying be carefull on way or the other. I was talked into buying a video camera years ago, decide it was worth the 90euro, handed over the money & next thing, they wanted me to get a more expensive one, to cut a long story short, they wouldn’t give me back the money! The place is a kip anyway.
Dont even hand over cash till you have your purchase in your hand!
This is about credit cards
And make sure you check your bag before you leave the store to make sure what you bought is actually in the bag. ! Open the packaging also as they are notorious for putting an inferior item inside the box itself ..
Credit cards are insured unless they preloaded the money themselves into the card account. They’ll get that money back.
In many cases when you use your card the store or restaurant they have a copy of the card number and valadation date. A trick I picked up to make it harder to be victim of addational fraud is to try and memorize the 3 digit CVV number ( normally on the back of the card) and cover it with a little sticker. This way it can help stop your card being used illegally for online shopping as many online shops required this info to complete a purchase.
Credit cards are insecure and vulnerable. There are too many risk factors.
I tend to avoid using credit cards and rarely buy online and only from retailers who have a stake in preserving their reputation.
Pubs, restaurants, books and small purchases are best bought using cash.
Always have a witness with you when but paying. Always get the name of the staff member you are dealing with. Cut off any sales staff who push too hard and promptly leave the shop.
The Canary islands are notorious for this kind of thing. You get a lot of people over from Morocco in particular and they are there to make a fast buck and disappear again overnight. When I lived there many years ago, high speed speedboats would come in late at night, drop off drugs and undesirables, and be gone so quickly there was not a hope in hell anything short of a helicopter could have tracked them.
Watch out for the dodgy perfume. Most of what they sell is fake, off the boat from China.
As always Fiona your thoughts are best left inside that micro brain of yours rather than the real world.
You propose to buy a pub with cash?
Buy from a dodgy salesman, then prepared to be screwed. And it is only dodgy salesmen out in the canary islands.
I go on holiday to relax…since when was shopping ever relaxing… Wise up mind your cards and enjoy yourselves.
I have been to the Canaries many times and experienced these sorts of places. Rule of thumb is this. If a shop doesn’t display the price on their goods, keep walking.
Actually … Credit Card companies retain the right to request someone to retain and not give back a card presented for payments… it is in the small print… this from a popular Credit Card Company….
64. If you make a notification under Condition 20 or 21 or if the Agreement is ended
we may request a retailer or other person to retain any Card or cancel any Card by
cutting it in two (through the signature box, magnetic strip and Chip) and return
them to us.
So the advice offered “Avoid handing over their credit card” is at odds with the terms and conditions under certain circumstances – so if you manage to get your card on that “black list” correctly or otherwise – the company retain the right as above – and legally at that point you are NOT entitled to have your card returned.
This does not sit very well with attempts to avoid fraud…. and with the commonly perceived rights and responsibilities of a card holder. Just my two cents worth to add to the debate….
Anyway Paulibhoye, its actually about ” Scams” which cancoe uder a long list of things! Smarty pants!
“Come under”
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