The national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime received 6,457 reports of holiday fraud during the time period, with victims reporting losses of £15,319,057 – a 41% increase on last year’s results.
Data revealed the top 10 hotspots of people being caught out by holiday fraud in the UK were London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Thames Valley, West Yorkshire, Hampshire, Essex, Sussex, Somerset and Kent.
An emerging trend amongst fraudsters, Action Fraud found, is using counterfeit Atol numbers on fake websites. Recently, fake websites have used duplicate or fabricated numbers which have been edited onto an Atol logo.
Meanwhile, the most frequent frauds are clone comparison websites, airline websites and holiday websites.
Fake confirmation emails or booking references are even sent, which has resulted in some cases of victims only realising they have fallen victim to fraud when they are at the airport to check in for their flight to be told that their booking does not exist.
Pauline Smith, head of Action Fraud, said: "With summer only just around the corner, we enter a period where fraudsters ramp up efforts to catch out unsuspecting members of the public.
"Scammers prey on people wanting to find a good deal online – whether that’s cheap flights, great hotels close to the beach at discounted rates or package holidays that undercut well-known travel operators and brands, people are more than willing to snap up a deal which sometimes comes at a heavy cost."
