U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action to protect Montanans from travel scams. The Senator highlighted recent reports of incidents involving scammers posing as travel or booking agents and creating fraudulent airline websites to sell fake hotel bookings and airline tickets.
“The FTC plays a critical role in protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices in the marketplace, including travel scams. While the FTC posts advisories pertaining to travel scams, we believe that more must be done to protect consumers. Travel reservations made on fraudulent websites can be costly and stressful for travelers, and it is critical to ensure that Americans understand how to recognize travel scams and their recourse options should they fall victim to these scams,” the letter states.
Read the full letter HERE.
As vaccines become more widely available and travel restrictions are lifted, 67 percent of Americans plan to travel this summer. At the same time, recent reports highlight an increase in incidents of scammers posing as travel or booking agents to book fraudulent vacation rentals and creating fraudulent airline websites to sell fake tickets. Montana is a popular summer destination and protecting Americans from these scams is important to ensuring Americans can have confidence when traveling to Montana and this important revenue reaches Montana business owners and not malicious scammers.
Daines sent this letter with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).