News Holiday scams up by nearly a fifth The number of British tourists hit by booking scams rose by 19 per cent last year, according to Action Fraud. In 2016, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre received 5,826 reports of holiday fraud, up from 4,910 in 2015. In total, holidaymakers lost 7.2m an average of 1,200 per person. More than a quarter (26 per cent) of victims said the fraud had a significant impact on their health or financial wellbeing, with 259 people claiming the impact was so severe that they had to receive medical treatment or were at risk of bankruptcy. The most common types of fraud related to: Holiday accommodation: fraudsters con holidaymakers by setting up fake websites, hacking into legitimate accounts, and posting fake adverts on websites and social media Airline tickets: a customer believes they are booking a flight and receives a fake ticket, or pays for a ticket that never turns up. In 2016, flights to Africa and the Indian sub-continent were particularly targeted, suggesting that fraudsters are aiming for the visiting friends and family market. They may be taking advantage of a lack of knowledge of the strict regulations in place for the legitimate UKbased travel industry Sports and religious trips: a popular target for fraud because of the limited availability of tickets and, consequently, higher prices Timeshares and holiday clubs: the sums involved with this form of fraud are particularly high, with victims often losing tens of thousands of pounds each The number of people reporting travel fraud increases in the summer and in December, indicating that fraudsters are focusing on the most popular travel periods. The two age groups most commonly targeted are 20-29 and 30-39 years, and the majority of those who are defrauded pay bymethods such as bank transfer or cash, with no means of getting their money back. Bruce Treloar, CTSI lead officer for holiday and travel law, said: We have been notified about the provision of two free tools developed by Prevention of Fraud in Travels (Profit) police-funded partner, Global Cyber Alliance. The tools a DMARC wizard and a DNS service check the authenticity of online sites. They promise to reduce cyber crime in travel significantly. More information is promised later in the summer stopping the supply of counterfeit goods in scotland and domestic premises across North Lanarkshire in May. Two people were detained in connection with the possession and supply of counterfeit goods, and released after questioning. Enquiries are ongoing and the seized goods will be sent for examination. Dawn Adamson, Fife trading standards service manager, said: This work follows a raid in December last year, in Dunfermline, Fife, where an estimated 200,000 worth of counterfeit goods were seized. These included dangerous electrical items, such as counterfeit hair straighteners. This criminal activity harms consumers, damages the economy, and threatens the livelihood of legitimate traders. Istock.com / thE-lIghtwrItEr An estimated 30,000 worth of goods, believed to be counterfeit, have been seized by Fife and North Lanarkshire Trading Standards teams. The items were almost certainly destined to be sold to Scottish consumers. Supported by officers from Police Scotland, trading standards executed a series of warrants at retail Protecting consumers in a digital single market Proposed digital-contract rules will reduce the differences between the national consumer contract laws of European Union member states. According to the European Commissions commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality, Vera Jourov, the changes will improve consumer protection and conditions for businesses selling products and services across borders. Speaking at the 8th Annual European E-commerce Conference, Jourov explained how strengthening the rules on cooperation between consumer-protection authorities will help achieve the aim of the digital single market to bring down barriers that hamper the growth of crossborder e-commerce. A satisfied consumer with his/her rights well protected, and redress quickly acquired, is a happy consumer who spends more, Jourov said. The possibility of negotiating commitments at the EU level will make it simpler, faster and cheaper for the businesses concerned to resolve consumer issues. More consistent enforcement of consumer legislation across Europe will reduce legal uncertainty and legal expertise costs when marketing cross-border. Jourov also discussed the data-protection regulation, which is the foundation of the digital single market and comes into force in May 2018. It will provide solid, uniform standards for data protection so that consumers can be sure they are in control of their personal information. We should not see privacy and data protection as holding back economic activities. They are, in fact, an essential competitive advantage, Jourov said. The Commission is working closely with member states to accompany them in the process of adapting or repealing their existing laws as necessary. The conference, which took place in Belgium on 11 May, looked at how e-commerce in Europe and around the world is developing. rogue builder receives hefty sentence A rogue builder who lied to, deceived and conned a homeowner out of 121,901 over the course of 18 months has been jailed for four years and three months. The hefty sentence was handed down to Stuart Ackerley, of Coulsdon, at Croydon Crown Court last month. The court was told that the campaign of deceit and intimidation started in November 2013, when Ackerley who traded as Northern Property Services and Northern Builders convinced the homeowner that improvements to his house would result in the property increasing in value. Ackerley continued to persuade his victim that more jobs were necessary, and each task was accompanied by a demand for cash often in amounts of tens of thousands of pounds. Croydon Trading Standards independent survey of the property found the majority of works carried out were unnecessary, or had been done in such an incompetent manner that the cost of remedial work would be as much as 45,000. Fake-harness fraudster sentenced A man who put his customers at risk of death or serious injury by selling counterfeit motor-racing harnesses from China through eBay and Facebook has been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court. Finbar Hannaford, of Pembrey, Camarthenshire, was given an 18-month suspended jail term, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, and told to pay 1,000 costs. The severity of the risk his customers were under came to light when Carmarthenshire Trading Standards officers arranged for the harnesses to be tested as part of their investigation. They were so concerned at the catastrophic failure of a counterfeit Sparco harness that they released footage of it breaking at several points under tests at just 50kmph, catapulting the crash-test dummy out of its seat, snapping back its head and strangling it by the neck. Officers asked Hannaford for information that would allow his customers to be contacted, but his lack of cooperation means many of his customers may still be using the dangerous harnesses.