How do I avoid becoming the victim of online fraud?
It is well-known that criminals target travellers with many versions of several familiar scams to try and gain money by deception. Unfortunately Magic Reef is not immune from such activity, so we would like to give you a few tips to help keep you safe online.
A common tactic of scammers is to send fake WhatsApp messages to mobile phones, pretending to be a travel related website. These are called 'phishing' scams. Sometimes they may include actual details of your booking (like your check in dates)! It has been known that unfortunately, several larger travel sites (example, Expedia, booking.com) have leaked guest and travel data in the past.
Please note that at Magic Reef, we will never use WhatsApp for official communication unless we have explicitly provided our WhatsApp number, and we will never request your personal details through this platform (or any other social media channels).
Do not click on any links in these WhatsApp messages, as they may be part of a phishing scam. They may ask you to confirm your reservation or pay a fee – we would never do this via social media.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing is becoming increasingly common. So if you have been targeted, or received a suspicious looking message in a social media channel that purports to be from Magic Reef, please let us know.
As ever, we need to be on the lookout for this sort of thing, and always avoid giving out any personal details, or clicking on suspicious links in popular social media channels.
For expert advice about being safe online and avoiding common internet scams, see the NZ government sponsored website 'Netsafe New Zealand' at https://netsafe.org.nz/.