Bangkok among cities with more reported fraud incidents: Mastercard study

Transactions in the Thai capital are more likely to encounter fraud compared to global cities like San Francisco, Dublin, Seoul, Budapest, and Edinburgh, which report notably lower rates, according to a new report from the Mastercard Economics Institute.

The report, widely covered by CNBC, highlights the tourism industry as one of the sectors most vulnerable to fraudulent activities, with a substantial uptick in scams observed during peak travel seasons.

According to the comprehensive study, fraud in travel agencies and tour bookings is more than four times higher than the average across other industries.

This alarming trend is exacerbated by the fact that reported fraud rates increased by more than 18 per cent at popular summer destinations during warm periods, and a staggering 28 per cent during the cold season at winter destinations.

In Bangkok, specifically, the report pinpoints taxi and car rental services as the primary areas where tourists encounter the most fraudulent activity.

Problems with taxis and car rentals account for a significant 48 per cent of reported fraud cases in the city. “Once payment is made, the tour may never materialise or may differ entirely from what was advertised,” the report states, highlighting a common modus operandi.

While the risk of being scammed varies greatly from city to city, transactions in Bangkok were more likely to experience fraud-related activities compared to some other destinations. 

Mr David Mann, chief economist for Asia Pacific at the Mastercard Economics Institute, elaborated on these geographical differences.

“In some destinations, you might find that most fraud originates from the travel sector and tour companies, while in other cities, fraud might occur in other businesses, such as food services. A clear example is Los Angeles, where we found that food businesses were the largest source of certain types of fraud,” he said.

The report specifically mentions that Phuket and Antalya, Turkey, see more fraudulent activity related to hotel bookings.

Mastercard’s data indicates that travellers reported the lowest rates of fraud in San Francisco, Dublin, Seoul, Budapest and Edinburgh, while those visiting places such as Cancun, Hanoi, Dhaka, and Bangkok tend to report higher travel-related fraud rates compared to those cities.

The nature of scams also differs by location. Issues with taxis and car rentals, for example, account for a mere 2 per cent of reported fraud cases in Hong Kong and Barcelona.

However, this figure rockets to 66 per cent in Jakarta, and as noted, a substantial 48 per cent in Bangkok, underscoring the specific challenges faced by visitors to the Thai capital. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK