A Jacksonville, Florida woman has filed for a fraud investigation with her bank after allegedly being scammed by a fake travel agency.
According to First Coast News, Larriesha Davis and five of her friends paid about $1,800 to a woman named Tamisha Moore for a girls trip to Denver in June.
Davis connected with Moore on Facebook, pointing out that her page seemed like a business page for “T&K Dream Vacations.” “I just contacted her on Facebook messenger first and we started texting,” Davis told First Coast News. The group sent Moore money via the mobile payment service Cash App before she eventually stopped answering calls and messages.
“The itinerary basically has our flight details and our hotel so I was thinking, oh it’s okay we have a whole itinerary here,” Davis added. “I called Spirit to see if our flights are booked and they’re not.”
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Davis said there were signs that something was amiss. “The email also was a trigger as well,” she told First Coast News. “Her email was not like a travel agent it was a personal email. That’s something I should have paid attention to.”
What’s more, “T&K Dream Vacations” doesn’t show up on a Google search and is not a business with the Better Business Bureau. First Coast News even reported that the word “vacations” is spelled incorrectly on Moore’s digital business card.
The news outlet reached out to Moore, who isn’t licensed to work as a travel agent in Florida. She claimed to work for an agent at InteleTravel promoting travel deals and said that another client of hers was unable to check into their hotel in Las Vegas.
In addition to the fraud investigation, Davis plans to file a police report.
Just last year, a woman in Clearwater, Florida was arrested after posing as an independent travel agent and stealing thousands of dollars from multiple people.
The cautionary tale should be a reminder to travelers to keep their eyes open for potential red flags such as deals that are too good to be true and requests for payment via mobile services like Cash App.
Always work with a trusted travel agent.
TravelSense.org is a great place to begin your search as it connects travelers with licensed advisors from around the globe.