SINGAPORE – Days after travellers reported an online travel agency to the police for allegedly swindling them of more than $1 million, another purported tour company has emerged with a similar ruse.
Speaking persuasively in Mandarin voice messages, Issac fielded concerns about Travel Key’s legitimacy. He claimed the company is based in Malaysia but operates as an unregistered agency to evade taxes. Issac said this helps to keep prices low. Between March and May, at least 48 victims paid for purported travel packages with a sham travel agency that had posted similar ads on Facebook.ST understands that the online travel agency involved is FL Holidays.Ms Cheng, who fell victim to the scam and made a police report on May 13, said she was scrolling through Facebook on May 19 when she saw a familiar travel package offer.
Thirty-seven of the 39 names on the guest lists of Travel Key and the now uncontactable FL Holidays are identical. PHOTOS: The Straits TimesBoth agencies listed their address in the same street: Jalan Hospital, in the town of Semporna, Sabah.“We’re a legitimate business,” he said. “I’ve never heard of FL Holidays before.”