How To Become a Travel Agent From Home Scheme: How It Works
If you're looking at how to become a travel agent, watch out for the latest trap: the How To Become a Travel Agent from Home scheme, aka the Travel Agent Certification Online or Travel Agent Course Scam. Let's take a look.
You enjoy traveling. One day you come across an offer such as: “Become a travel agent and use your 50-70% discount all over the world for flights, hotels, pubs and restaurants.”
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Perfect! Since you already do a lot of traveling at your own expense and would love to be able to do more, this is a compelling offer. You see credible testimonials and decide to join the club since it only takes 20 minutes to take a test and $200 to register. That doesn't bother you, since you've already done the math and worked out you will save at least $200 on your first trip.
So what's the catch? Here it is:
The scam has two variations.Scenario 1. You receive a travel-agent card through the mail. The bad news comes when you try to use the card at your first destination or anywhere else, only to find it's not valid and only really useful as a very expensive bookmark.
Scenario 2. You pay $200 for the registration and…and …AND??? That's it. You can go on expecting the promised benefits forever. You will never be able to reach the company to try to get your money back.
How To Become a Certified Travel Agent Scheme: How To Avoid
If you really want to become a travel agent, then maybe start applying for a job at a travel agency. On the other hand, there are legitimate options to get a travel agent certification online or to find the right travel agent course, but you have to do your homework.
Research, look for forums on this topic and take in consideration only testimonials from people you know, not fake characters on the Internet.
Travel Agent Certification Scam: How To Report
Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
a href=”https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?orgcode=SCAMDET” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Report To The FTC Here
How to protect yourself more:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You'll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.
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Recently received this from ‘Wendy Meek’ and thought I would post here in case anyone else tries to search it and is suspicious. I couldn’t find any information relating directly to ‘Wendy’ or anything on Liberty Travel GROUP. I looked at a legitimate looking travel website, Liberty Travel, which has on their contact page that they are not affiliated with Liberty Travel Group nor are they hiring. That’s when I knew it was too good to be true and I am glad I didn’t fill out the forms Wendy sent me.
‘Hello Harry ____,
My name is Wendy Meek and I am the HR manager of the Liberty Travel Group. I have read your resume and I think that you are suitable for the role of coordinator in our company.
About the role:
Coordinator provides services to our clients as soon as possible. Your main responsibility is to process orders from our customers. You must pass a trial period of 30 days, after which you will be able to work with clients directly. You will work the first 30 days with your personal supervisor 9AM-11AM. Training will provide you with your personal supervisor Sarah.
Responsibilities:
Making report.
Sending reports, letters and orders of our customers to our agents for smooth operation.
Ensuring the overall responsibilities of the coordinator, reporting any problems to your supervisor.
Skills:
The ability to work with a computer, a smartphone.
Managing time is especially important for this job because we provide services on schedule.
Work remotely, all work is done online.
You will work in your city. You do not need to visit our office. Opening hours 9AM-11AM. Maybe sometimes you will work in the evening. This role is ideal for students or if you are looking for part-time work.
If you are interested in this role then let me know about it. I will send you all the necessary documents.
Best regards,
Wendy Meek
Liberty Travel Group.’
You are offered a very cheap vacation package exciting cheap destination travels as a travel consultant you get your own travel website where people can buy cheap air tickets and hotels you will be a travel consultant but you have to pay $149 first they will refund the $49 to you ask you credit card info and then pay $59/ mo you have to recruit 6 people so you wont pay the $59 /mo. Is this a scam?
It started with "[email protected]" mailed by ‘gmail.com’.
Just received another message from "Tiffany Jameson" today from ‘[email protected]’.
Seriously. Could not search any of this as legitimate. No company email. Spotted typos and improper grammar in almost every message. Precious time wasted.
Advice: Don’t waste YOUR time.
Haha I burnt that check, this is a scam. You will get caught, and in jail they will call you Tiffany as you get rammed from behind by the long shaft of Karma the three-legged man who coincidentally only has two legs. Good luck to you sir you will need it, God will not heed your call.
Sent from your mothers’ fowl and faulty womb
On Nov 16, 2014, at 9:17 AM, MikiTravelLtd. wrote:
Dear Marcus,
How are you?
I got your message. Thanks. So, you have received the check of our customer. Please cash the check and deduct your remuneration(5%).
Fee for money transfer through Western Union is supposed to be taken from the remaining 95% of the funds.
The remaining 95% (Western Union transfer processing fee deducted) should be sent to our manager via Western Union. Here is the information of the manager:
Name: OLGA
Last name: DONINA
Address: Moscow, Russia
After the transaction via Western Union you should send me the following information:
1) The amount sent;
2) MTCN (10-digit transaction code)
3) Sender’s full name
4) A scanned copy of the Western Union statement
Waiting for your confirmation message on completed money transfer via Western Union.
Have a nice day!
Sincerely,
Tiffany Jameson
__________________________
Just sent "Tiffany Jameson" my paperwork to start!! Ive been looking up the company and couldn’t find anything but their website til now. About to email her the link to this page, with a message about her being full of shit and to shred my information. Which I went through, and I don’t see anything with anything that cant be found on the internet anyway (name, address , phone number) nothing like, SS# , bank# , CC#. Suppose they could be waiting til Im all the way on the hook. So, Im curious on what the scam IS tho? Money laundering?
I got the e mail today I thought was legit as I have posted resume on sites and am a travel agent! The company mentioned was Miki Travel Ltd a genuine UK based company. What got me suspicious was in the e mail she says she is Tiffany Jameson but e mail from Samantha Richie and it’s a hotmail address not a company e mail address. Glad I googled the name Samantha Richie and found this!
I got the e mail today I thought was legit as I have posted resume on sites and am a travel agent! The company mentioned was Miki Travel Ltd a genuine UK based company. What got me suspicious was in the e mail she says she is Tiffany Jameson but e mail from Samantha Richie and it’s a hotmail address not a company e mail address. Glad I googled the name Samantha Richie and found this!
I got the email too. I was so surprise that she was so ready to offer me a job without speaking to me.
She insisted a lot in the documentation to become a travel agent.
I look into the "job description" and hit me that she wanted me to cash the checks from clients and send her the money in Western Union transfer. That alone raised the red flag.
I called the number on the website listed on the email and sure enough no answer either.
Then I google the name of SAGA GROUP on the application and came out this conversation.
Thanks God I did not get into nothing of this scam.
If you can imagine, this lady will walk with the money and I could walk into jail!
God is on my site and protected me because of you guys.
Many blessings.
I received an email from Samantha Richie also around the 7th of October. I wasn’t really skeptical because I did post my resume on a few sites because I am looking for new employment. However she sent the first email and I responded but it took days for her to respond back. Then on Friday, October 10, 2014 she emailed an application with job details, etc. At that point I became skeptical and called the number listed in the email, but no one answered. I even called thru the weekend and today October 13, 2014 still no answer. I emailed asking questions and said that I wanted to speak to someone. I doubt she will call me back. However I started goggling the company name and couldn’t find anything. I searched Facebook and LinkedIn nothing turned up, and something said to just Google Samantha Richie and this site showed up. Thank you so much for posting this information, I knew that it sound too good to be true.
goodness, I rec’d the email also and did the search on her, only to stumble upon this site! Thanks for having it up there. Needless to say I did respond asking plenty of questions and also told her my husband does believe it is a scam! I doubt if she’ll answer me, but if she does I’ll post it!
Wow! I just got this email. Thanks for the heads up.
Thanks for this site and everyone’s comments….I received this same email. In the email Samantha Richie said she received my resume. But, I was skeptical because I had never sent my resume out.
Got an email from Samantha Richie today. I knew it was a scam when I saw it, the pay was too good to be true. I googled "Saga Travel Co" and could not find that specific title in the company profiles. People amaze me…
Has anyone had any dealings with Travel Centre International then ?
http://www.travel-centre.net
I have just signed up with them, everything seemed quite legit, proper contract, website, even rang one of the offices and got their after hours phone which sounded legit, but now I am not so sure.
They have claimed they will never ask me to pay anything on their behalf, but just now I have received an email claiming they will deposit some money in my account in the next 48 hours and then they want me to withdraw it and pay someone through Western Union, Moneygram….
Bugger and it was looking like a good little job on the side….
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS!! IT SAVED MY LIFE, I WAS CONTACTED BY SAMANTHA RICHIE AND EVERYTHING THAT PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IN THEIR COMMENTS IT’S TRUE. SAME E-MAIL AND PAPERWORK. ALSO A BIG THANKS FOR MY BOSS THAT RESEARCHED IT AND CAME TO THIS SITE. WHEN IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCT I CAN’T BELEIVE PEOPLE GET AWAY WITH DOING THINGS OF THIS NATURE
I dealt with Samantha Richie months ago and yes, she scammed me. I reported her to lawmakers and contacted the real Saga based out of the UK. Please advise the different e-mails she is using. I am out of thousands. I’m trying to stop this person for good. Thanks for the warning.
I got the same email from Samantha Richie . I knew it there’s something wrong because whenever I asked her contact number she never answered me and when I asked her about the company she always does the same thing – ignoring me.
They will give application to fill it out and many other documents it actually seems real. And then they’ll hired me and ask me to find money to Russia and I almost did . I went to western Union and send money to Russia . Then my parents told me it doesn’t look right . Then m glad that I look up there and found it that its all scam . I called western union and cancel the payment which I sent . And thanks to God that payment is still not pick up by the person I sent to so they’ll canceled it . Thank you so much for warning .
I’m glad I googled this first, before replying to the Email!
Just received the Samantha Richie/Saga Group email today.
Pretty much an exact duplicate of one listed here…
So glad to have seen the prior posts here !!
At the very least this has saved me some time – Thanks so much for your warning !!
Thank you for the information just received an email and employment offer. I thought it was strange that Samantha could guarantee $3000 a month. Plus the fact she never answered my email when I questioned her.
SCAM SCAM
amantha Richie [email protected] via mailgun.org
How are you doing?
This is Samantha Richie and I represent Saga Group travel company as an HR manager. My key task is searching for applicants to fill the position of travel coordinator.
Here are a few words about the position offered and its advantages:
-Interaction with clientele and handling payments from them;
-This is a part-time job opportunity. Therefore it would be easy to combine the position offered with your current employment. Lots of free time ? you would only be asked to work 4-5 hours a week;
-Monthly remuneration of $ 3,000 (we also have an established bonus system to bring you 5% of each payment you process);
-Free training;
-This position requires no out of the pocket expenses;
-You are going to operate from home (this is a home-based position);
-Flexible work schedule.
This is only a short description of the position we are offering. We are eager to provide you with detailed & complete info as soon as you confirm your interest. If you are currently looking for a job & find this job offer interesting, get back to me with confirmation of your interest.
Best Regards,
Samantha Richie
Saga Group Ltd
top travel is also a scam they came to pay you 3300 a month and plus but they have you jump threw hopes if I would have and they had someone make a deposit in my checking account then they called it fraud the nexts day thank god I didn’t ake the money out and told my bank to said the 3,000 back but it messed up my account and now I have to fix everything on top of find a new job will never trust it again
guys what about easytravel1.com i’ve been looking into it and can’t figure out if it’s a scam or not!
Watch out. The name name of the company and the name of the HR person isn’t always the same. This happened to a friend if mine; where things seemed to check out legit, like an actual over seas travel agency. Did all the paper work and filed it all for employment. They sent the check to him, he cashed it and it cleared at his bank – but when he money ordered it to Russia, the check suddenly came back saying it didn’t clear after all and he is now out over 2,000 dollars.
How about Finally Free Travels? Is this one a scam?
I had applied on the internet for a travel position in Orlando, FL. I was contacted via email by Mark Newman HR Recruiter for Corporate Travel Agency in London, UK that need a client manager in Orlando. He sent me a contract specifying the terms, etc. and to sign and email it back. I tried to find the company but with no luck.
I received this email (below) last month. Thank god I checked the internet first! Thanks for those who are willing to let us know which emails are scams!
Below is the entire email that almost had me fooled!
HR Manager
May 27
Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX,
This is Mila Belucci, and I work for Heaventour Srl travel agency. We are
at this time searching for US resident candidates to fill the job opening of
a Travel Coordinator with our business and I offer you to consider
application for it.
Here are a few words about the vacancy requirements and the benefits it
stipulates:
-client requests & payment processing;
-Interest to raise professionally and earn money;
-A successful candidate should be attentive to detail;
-Initial level PC literacy MS Office & Adobe Reader must be installed on
your PC;
-Part-time approx. 7-14 hours weekly job, flexible hours (to allow you
combine working for us with your current employment);
-Monthly fixed salary of $ 3,000;
-No hidden expenses.
To get additional information about mentioned job opening, simply reply to this note.
Regards,
Mila Belucci
Heaventour Srl
Please be aware of scammers operating under the following names; HEAVENTOUR SRL, Sega Group LTD, Sega Group Travel & Sega Group Travel Company.
These scammers have gotten very sophisticated using a legal name like Sega Group LTD which a real legitimate company to promote their illegal activities. I able found out the real deal through their documents and found this site where others have had the misfortune of being dupe.
I just got contacted by heavenstours.it
I’m glad I came here first to investigate them. The $3000.00 a month salary sounded to good to be true. I worked for global travel international. It’s hard work but they train and pay your commission on time. Yes their is a fee to join. But they are not scam. You make as much as you work. I love working for Global Travel International.
I received a note telling me that everything was OK with my Resume, that they got it in Internet. I did not applied to a travel agency, but I have been applying to several jobs in Internet. They asked me if I can ready PDF format. They told me that they are going to send me few forms, that I am still waiting.
The HR Manager is Mila Belucci.
You can tell, because first they used a @work.com email address and then they switched to @gmail.com. That’s a very telling sign it’s a scan.
HEAVENTOUR SRL in USA is a fraud and total SCAM!
They copied all of their contracts. I filed out a job application faxed it to them and started April 1st 2014. They had me transfer money to third party in Russia as a tour guide. Check account was good. but found out the account was scammed and check was counter fitted! Customer stopped payment as he was scammed. I’m out $2500!!!! Contact was a MILA BELUCCI..IF ITS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT IS!
My fault, poor judgment I had all the warnings, but thought I actually had a job!
Haventour SRL Big time SCAM!
Signed what looked to be a legal contract.
Followed their instructions MILA BELUCCI was my contact. Checked with bank to verify funds a OK.
Did not realize checks were counter fit off of a account they scammed. I’m out $2500…
Should have followed my gut! It had lots of negative sigs. Blame myself! No such part time job!
Heaventour travel agency is a new one. [email protected]
To become a travel agent is not an easy process, there are required the knowledge of geographical information across the world and other specific skills.
One of them is Global Travel. Stay away from them, they have a bunch of complaints all over the Internet. They operate under many names like Valu-pass.com, Gtimemberships.com, Globaltravelworks.com and Infovpass.com. Global Travel International is a total scam artist.