There have been recent news reports that some deceptive online companies appear to be imitating websites of actual hotels or airlines in order to attract bookings; Further, there have been reports of scammers using the fraudulent information listed on these websites to impersonate travel company representatives and even impersonate consumers in conversations with the hotels and airlines
Klobuchar and Fischer urge FTC and DOT to investigate these reports and use tools available to help stop these deceptive practices
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) have urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to investigate reported deceptive practices by fraudulent online travel booking websites. There have been recent news reports that some deceptive online companies appear to be imitating websites of actual hotels or airlines in order to attract bookings. Further, there have been reports of scammers using the fraudulent information listed on these websites to impersonate travel company representatives and consumers in conversations with the hotels and airlines. Klobuchar and Fischer urged the FTC and DOT to investigate these reports and use tools available to help stop potentially deceptive practices.
“There have been recent news reports that some deceptive online companies appear to be imitating the websites of actual hotels or airlines in order to attract bookings. Further, there have been reports of scammers using the fraudulent information listed on these websites to impersonate travel company representatives on the telephone, and even impersonate consumers in conversations with the hotels and airlines,” Klobuchar and Fischer wrote. “We request that you investigate this matter and use the tools available to you to help stop these practices. We also ask that you inform us if you believe additional regulatory authority is necessary to protect consumers in this area.”
Klobuchar is the Chair of the bipartisan Senate Travel and Tourism Caucus. Fischer is the Chair of the Senate Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security Subcommittee.
The full text of the letter from Klobuchar and Fischer is below.
Dear Secretary Foxx and Chairwoman Ramirez:
We write to urge you to investigate reported incidents of alleged fraudulent, unfair, and deceptive practices in the online travel and tourism marketplace.
Travel and tourism are vital to our economy. In 2015, travelers spent $947 billion in the United States, supporting over 8.1 million jobs. Travel is also the U.S. economy’s leading service export. Beyond the economic impacts of travel and tourism, the industry connects families, friends, and businesses across the country.
There have been recent news reports that some deceptive online companies appear to be imitating the websites of actual hotels or airlines in order to attract bookings. Further, there have been reports of scammers using the fraudulent information listed on these websites to impersonate travel company representatives on the telephone, and even impersonate consumers in conversations with the hotels and airlines.
Websites that display outdated or incorrect travel information or do not provide appropriate disclosures with the intention of deceiving consumers may result in consumers paying elevated fees and not receiving the services they believe they have purchased. For airline reservations, consumers can be left with airline itineraries that cannot be honored, missed connections, and lost baggage. For hotel reservations, the hotel may not have the consumer’s reservation or a particular requested accommodation, such as the correct number of beds, adjoining rooms, or a fully accessible room.
We are aware that the Federal Trade Commission has issued alerts on this issue and the Department of Transportation has brought actions against companies that act in an unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent manner. We appreciate your actions, but they have not deterred other scams or stopped the problem. We request that you investigate this matter and use the tools available to you to help stop these practices. We also ask that you inform us if you believe additional regulatory authority is necessary to protect consumers in this area.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
