How it works
- A website or social media advert offers airport parking or meet-and-greet at a price well below genuine operators
- Payment is taken for a booking reference that either does not exist in the airport's system, or belongs to an operator that never receives your booking
- On arrival, victims cannot locate the promised meet-and-greet representative or parking space, and the operator is unreachable
- In meet-and-greet scams specifically, some victims have had their car keys handed over to a fraudulent "driver" who then disappears with the vehicle
Red flags
- Prices dramatically below every other parking option for the same airport and dates
- No landline phone number, or a number that goes unanswered when tested before booking
- Payment requested only by bank transfer rather than card
- A confirmation email with generic or inconsistent branding, or no clear operator name and address
How to protect yourself
- Book through the airport's own official parking pages, or a well-established comparison site with a long review history
- Call the parking or meet-and-greet operator's number before booking to confirm it is answered and legitimate
- Pay by credit card where possible for Section 75 protection
- Keep your confirmation email and a working contact number accessible on the day, and confirm details again a day or two before travel
If it happens to you
- Contact your card issuer immediately to dispute the payment
- If a vehicle was involved (meet-and-greet fraud), report to the police immediately as this may constitute vehicle theft, not just a booking scam
- Report the site to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk)
Report to: Action Fraud