Spring Outing After a Long Time Turns Sour... Beware of Travel Scams
Tour Agency Tour2000 CEO Mr. A
Embezzled 170 Million Won from 70 People
As daily life recovers from COVID-19, domestic and international travel has started to increase, leading to the reappearance of travel scams.
According to a report compiled by Asia Economy on the 6th, the Seoul Gangnam Police Station sent Mr. A, the CEO of travel agency Tour2000, to the prosecution on fraud charges on the 28th of last month. According to the police, Mr. A is accused of embezzling 170 million KRW from 70 people through overseas travel product reservations. Mr. A told the product reservers, "Due to company circumstances, it is difficult to proceed with the travel product event, so we will cancel all reservations," but disappeared without issuing refunds and was later caught by the police.
Travel scams are appearing in various forms not only abroad but also domestically. Mr. Yoon sold Jeju travel products under multiple business names such as ‘OOJeju,’ ‘JejuOOO,’ and ‘ORojeju’ on the internet, embezzling 54.2 million KRW from 140 people. Mr. Yoon fled to Vietnam but was recently caught through an Interpol joint investigation. Mr. Kim also deceived 175 people by selling discounted Jeju travel products and embezzled a total of 90 million KRW; he was recently arrested and sent to the police.
Experts explain that it is relatively safer to use travel agencies that directly operate the travel products they sell. They advise caution against travel products with excessively cheap airfare and accommodation fees, travel agencies that offer various discount conditions, and those that only accept cash payments.
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Professor Eunhee Lee of Inha University’s Department of Consumer Studies said, "Be cautious of small or newly established travel agencies that sell similar products at prices much lower than large travel agencies." A representative from a major travel agency said, "If the price difference is more than 200,000 KRW for almost the same overseas travel product program, examine it carefully," adding, "Recently, the cost of living at overseas travel destinations has risen significantly, so no travel agency can drastically lower travel product prices alone."
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