British holidaymakers have been warned to stay clear of bogus holiday clubs, particularly when travelling to popular destinations such as Spain .
According to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), such holiday scams are costing travellers from the UK millions of pounds each year, with the average victim losing more than £3,000.
In a move to highlight the issue, the OFT is to hand out fake scratch cards similar to the kind used by holiday club representatives at airports, which persuade travellers to pay large fees upfront to join clubs which often promise dream holidays for life, special one day-only-offers or cash back.
The OFT said the largest number of tricksters are usually found operating in Spain, where a number of high-pressure sales techniques are used to lure people into lengthy presentations, after which they will be pressured to sign a contract .
But those who are easily convinced into signing often find they have parted with thousands of pounds for no more than access to a booking service, such as a website or phone number.
Speaking to the BBC, the OFT's head of consumer protection, Mike Haley, said victims were usually approached while on holiday, starting with the lure of a scratch card before being taken to a presentation and then finally being "conned into signing a contract" .
He added that bogus clubs take advantage of the fact their victims are "not thinking" or may be under the influence of alcohol when approached.
But despite an increase in the number of fake holiday clubs, Mr Haley stressed that there were some genuine clubs on offer that would not pressure people into signing up on the day.
"They will generally give a cooling-off period so that you can think about whether you want to make a sizeable investment and everything they promise you will be in the contract," he explained.
"Bogus holiday clubs won't give you any of those rights, won't respect you as a consumer and will try to make you sign up on the day so that you can't reflect on whether it's the right thing to do."
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