Holiday Travel Magazine Scam

So it's Bastiaan de Groot ( [email protected] ) again. Same as the earlier scams such as with the holiday-travel-mag.co.uk scam listed above.

I did report the site to "Asia Travel Magazine" scam site ( http://www.asia-travel-magazine.com ) to their hosting service, burst.net, but no action or reply to the ticket has been taken by burst.net. It's a pity that hosting companies do not take action against scammers like this who are caught red-handed, as they will certainly succeed in defrauding some unfortunate business owner. Let's just hope prospective advert buyers will google "Asia Travel Magazine" first and see the reports here.

Note that the text in http://www.asia-travel-magazine.com is all lifted from Lonely Planet's site. I reported that to them as well, but seems that didn't do any good as well.

Both sites now offline

Selling fake/fraudulent advertising is/has been quite a widespread fraud in the UK for a long time and it isn't aimed solely at hotel operators. In your case the simplest way to take precautions is to make others aware through expat and business links if you have them, to spread the word about what to watch out for and what checks to make.

In the internet age it isn't difficult to make it appear that you have a widely distributed magazine when no such thing exists. In the UK there are official figures published for sales of magazines and newspapers, and advertising through any that don't appear n those links is simply a waste of money.

in the UK it is mostly worked through high pressure phone calls and they usually get contact details through other advertising you may have done. It's unlikely to be the same group but, the more people who are made aware of what to watch out for, the less likely it is people will fall victim.

Both sites now offline

Not sure if you did something, HannahsDad, or if it was my follow-up with burst.net that I sent them. Either way, good riddance until he does it again. I seem to be on the scammer's mailing list, so I shall repost here if he does try the fake magazine scam again.

I have came across this one and nearly fell into the trap. The girl kept chasing me to send money that when I felt suspicious. Thanks for all the warning posts!

Dear hotel owner / manager,

First of all let me introduce myself. I am Sandy Keeley, sales and promotion manager of Holiday Travel Magazine.

Holiday Travel Magazine would like to invite you to advertise with us as we will launch a beautiful Malaysia special in October.
Your region will also be covered in a 3-5 page story. Therefore we are addressing you to invite you to participate as an Advertiser in our magazine with special rates for this issue only.

You can promote your hotel / resort for as little as US$ 89 in our Malaysia special.

Holiday Travel Magazine is a full size, full colour, high quality publication that many readers over the past years have come to rely on as one of their favourite travel magazines.

For more information about advertising have a look at the attached Rate Card.
Our website www.holiday-travel-magazine.com provides much more information about the magazine including a preview of the magazine in PDF.

Thank you for your time spent reading this letter and the enclosed Rate Card. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours,

Sandy Keeley

Sales and Promotion Manager of Holiday Travel Magazine
[email protected]

Glad you didn't get scammed on this one, but unfortunately many others probably have. This scammer has been in the same business for a long time, and as soon one of his sites is shut down, he registers a new domain and starts it again.

Looks like his "Holiday Travel Magazine" site, www.holiday-travel-magazine.com , is still up and running. Same text stolen from Lonely Planet, and even the same fake magazine cover that he took from a fake magazine cover site, which is almost sort of comical: http://www.simplypersonalized.com/fake- ... ake-cover/

The scam site is hosted by kvchosting.com, as shown in the whois info:

Registration Service Provided By: KVCHOSTING.COM LLC

Domain Name: HOLIDAY-TRAVEL-MAGAZINE.COM

Registration Date: 09-Nov-2012
Expiration Date: 09-Nov-2013

Status:LOCKED
Note: This Domain Name is currently Locked.
This feature is provided to protect against fraudulent acquisition of the domain name,

as in this status the domain name cannot be transferred or modified.

Name Servers:
ns1.kvcdns.com
ns2.kvcdns.com

Registrant Contact Details:
PrivacyProtect.org
Domain Admin ()
ID#10760, PO Box 16
Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Nobby Beach
Queensland,QLD 4218
AU
Tel. +45.36946676

Administrative Contact Details:
PrivacyProtect.org
Domain Admin ()
ID#10760, PO Box 16
Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Nobby Beach
Queensland,QLD 4218
AU
Tel. +45.36946676

Technical Contact Details:
PrivacyProtect.org
Domain Admin ()
ID#10760, PO Box 16
Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Nobby Beach
Queensland,QLD 4218
AU
Tel. +45.36946676

Billing Contact Details:
PrivacyProtect.org
Domain Admin ()
ID#10760, PO Box 16
Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Nobby Beach
Queensland,QLD 4218
AU
Tel. +45.36946676

If you want to do something about the scam email that you received and the associated scammer and site, you could file an abuse ticket at:

https://www.kvchost.com/clients/submitt ... 2&deptid=4

If you read back through this thread, you will see that the perp has used kvchosting in the past.

I too very nearly got scammed by the lovely 'Sandy' chasing me!!

I'm now trying to report them to Ombudsman and internet advertising bodies!? Think it must be hard though!

Thank you to all of you for reporting this, so I too didn't fall for it!

Gratitude!
Francesca

Francesca - Glad you didn't get taken by these scammers. They have been around for a long time and once one of their fake magazine sites is closed, they open a new one. In addition to any other reports that you might file, you may want to file a complaint with their hosting service, kvchosting (see above). Maybe if more people report this to them, they will take action and shut the "Holiday Travel Magazine" scam site down.

This same scammer (Sandy?) has been reported at a B&B owners scam warning site:

http://www.pillowsandpancakes.com/sw/ph ... f=1&t=1432

I see that this thread now comes up first when doing a search for Holiday Travel Magazine. Let's hope that their targets at least google the name or www.holiday.travel.magazine.com site and see this here before sending the scammer money.

Thanks, but don't seem to be able to get the link to work for reporting the site!?
I've also reported them to a couple of sites, but not sure if anything will happen! But let's hope - I also send a shaming email to them, not that that will help, but made me feel better!!

Looks like the "Holiday Travel Magazine" site is now offline. Stay tuned, as this scammer will probably try another fake site in the near future. That does seem to be how they work, and they have been at this for more than a year.

It appears that this same fake magazine advert sales scam group is back, so I am restarting this thread. For their fake magazine websites with the text again stolen from Lonely Planet, they are operating:

beautiful-europe-magazine.com (Beautiful Europe Magazine)

americas-traveller.com (Americas Traveller Magazine)

africa-traveler.com (Africa Traveler Magazine)

asia-pacific-traveler.com (Asia Pacific Traveler Magazine) [This one seems to be taken down for some reason]

First, the email: Dear Sir / Madam,

We are the publishers of Asia Pacific Traveler, one of World’s most flamboyant travel magazines, with over 80.500 copies distributed 6 times a year!

In January we launch our Thailand special with more than 25 pages dedicated to beautiful Thailand!
Around 5-7 pages will be dedicated to your area.
Therefore we are addressing you to invite you to participate as an Advertiser in our magazine with special rates for this issue only.

Advertisers get a free link to their websites in our monthly newsletter.

Advertising rates starts at $89.00 only for a 1/4 page advertisement.

We can create the artwork for you in case you don’t have an advertisement ready. (at no charge at all)

Asia Pacific Traveler is a leading international magazine focusing on the best Asian travel destinations.
With subscribers in over 15 countries, Asia Pacific Traveler has been bringing the world's most exciting continent to traveller's door steps since 2011.

For more information about advertising have a look at the attached Rate Card.
Our website http://www.asia-pacific-traveler.com for more information about the magazine.

Thank you for your time and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley Johnson

Advertising Manager
[email protected]


All are hosted at:

Registrant Org Bas Groot is associated with ~1 other domains
Registrar PDR LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Registrar Status clientTransferProhibited
Dates Created on 2013-09-12 - Expires on 2015-09-12 - Updated on 2014-09-11
Name Server(s) NS1.HOST-CARE.COM (has 19,486 domains)
NS2.HOST-CARE.COM (has 19,486 domains)

IP Address 64.37.52.119 - 797 other sites hosted on this server
IP Location United States - Florida - Orlando - Hostdime.com Inc.
ASN United States AS33182 DIMENOC - HostDime.com, Inc.,US (registered Oct 20, 2004)

"Bas Groot"? Haven't we seen that name somewhere before?

All seem to share the same contact info:

New Business Park, , Birmingham B5 4LJ
Telephone: +44(0)8708904471, Fax +44(0)8708904471


The hosting provider, HostDime, has been notified but the sites are still up and running.

[AlanJones]

The above 4 fake sites are in the process of being reported for fraud.

Many thanks for your advice, Alan. I definitely never correspond with these scammers, but wanted to post them here so that perhaps their fake magazines:

beautiful-europe-magazine.com (Beautiful Europe Magazine)

americas-traveller.com (Americas Traveller Magazine)

africa-traveler.com (Africa Traveler Magazine)

asia-pacific-traveler.com (Asia Pacific Traveler Magazine)

Might show up when unsuspecting targets do a search for them.

You said that these four sites have been reported for fraud. Not sure if you want to comment here, but have you done that? Would appreciate some tips on best reporting methods so that we can be pro-active with these scammers.

Yes, the same mob is back with the same fake travel magazine scam. This time is it "Emma Walker" and the magazine is "Discover Asia Magazine". Same scam, using the same material stolen from Lonely Planet. Here is the email we just received:

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am Emma Walker, advertising manager of Discover Asia Magazine, one of Asia’s most flamboyant travel magazines, with over 80.500 copies distributed 6 times a year!

In September we launch our Thailand special with more than 20 pages dedicated to beautiful Thailand.
We selected a few hotels / accommodations that meet our standards and will offer you the chance to promote your beautiful hotel in our Thailand special as your region will be covered in a 5-6 page story / article.

Advertisers get a free link to their websites in our monthly newsletter.

Advertising rates starts at US Dollar 89.00 only for a 1/4 page advertisement.

We can create the artwork for you in case you don’t have an advertisement ready. (at no extra charge)

Discover Asia Magazine is a leading international magazine focusing on the best Asian and Pacific travel destinations.
With subscribers in over 15 countries, Discover Asia Magazine has been bringing the world's most exciting continent to traveller's door steps since 2013.

For more information about advertising have a look at the attached Rate Card.
Our website www.discover-asia-magazine.com for more information about the magazine.

Thank you for your time and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Walker

Advertising Manager
[email protected]

Whois info:

Whois Record for Discover-As...agazine.com
How does this work?

Whois & Quick Stats
Email is associated with ~4,406,824 domains
is associated with ~1,977,182 domains

Registrant Org Privacy Protection Service INC d/b/a PrivacyProtec was found in ~1,826,644 other domains
Registrar PDR LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Registrar Status clientTransferProhibited
Dates Created on 2015-04-24 - Expires on 2016-04-24 - Updated on 2015-04-24
Name Server(s) NS7.TRUEHOSTDNS.COM (has 2,338 domains)
NS8.TRUEHOSTDNS.COM (has 2,338 domains)

IP Address 184.171.251.122 - 825 other sites hosted on this server
IP Location United States - California - Walnut - Host4geeks Llc
ASN United States AS33182 DIMENOC - HostDime.com, Inc. (registered Oct 20, 2004)
Domain Status Registered And Active Website
Whois History 3 records have been archived since 2015-04-24
IP History 3 changes on 2 unique IP addresses over 0 years
Registrar History 1 registrar
Hosting History 1 change on 2 unique name servers over 0 year
Whois Server whois.publicdomainregistry.com
Website
Website Title Discover Asia Magazine
Server Type Apache
Response Code 200
SEO Score 98%
Terms 166 (Unique: 120, Linked: 19)
Images 5 (Alt tags missing: 2)
Links 18 (Internal: 15, Outbound: 3)
Whois Record ( last updated on 2015-07-29 )
Domain Name: DISCOVER-ASIA-MAGAZINE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1922873737_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.publicdomainregistry.com
Registrar URL: www.publicdomainregistry.com
Updated Date: 2015-06-24T02:26:20Z
Creation Date: 2015-04-24T10:30:50Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-04-24T10:30:50Z
Registrar: PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com
Registrar IANA ID: 303
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Domain Admin
Registrant Organization: Privacy Protection Service INC d/b/a PrivacyProtect.org
Registrant Street: C/O ID#10760, PO Box 16 Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the
domain owner/operator Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Registrant City: Nobby Beach
Registrant State/Province: Queensland
Registrant Postal Code: QLD 4218
Registrant Country: AU
Registrant Phone: +45.36946676
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email:
Registry Admin ID:
Admin Name: Domain Admin
Admin Organization: Privacy Protection Service INC d/b/a PrivacyProtect.org
Admin Street: C/O ID#10760, PO Box 16 Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain
owner/operator Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Admin City: Nobby Beach
Admin State/Province: Queensland
Admin Postal Code: QLD 4218
Admin Country: AU
Admin Phone: +45.36946676
Admin Phone Ext:
Admin Fax:
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email:
Registry Tech ID:
Tech Name: Domain Admin
Tech Organization: Privacy Protection Service INC d/b/a PrivacyProtect.org
Tech Street: C/O ID#10760, PO Box 16 Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain
owner/operator Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Tech City: Nobby Beach
Tech State/Province: Queensland
Tech Postal Code: QLD 4218
Tech Country: AU
Tech Phone: +45.36946676
Tech Phone Ext:
Tech Fax:
Tech Fax Ext:
Tech Email:
Name Server: ns7.truehostdns.com
Name Server: ns8.truehostdns.com
DNSSEC:Unsigned
Registrar Abuse Contact Email:
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1-2013775952
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System:
http://wdprs.internic.net/
For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp

Registration Service Provided By: MYTRUEHOST.COM

Discover Asia Magazine at http://discover-asia-magazine.com

Discover Asia Magazine, New Business Park, Birmingham B5 4LJ
Telephone: +44(0)8708904471, Fax +44(0)8708904471
Email: [email protected]

In the process of being reported for fraud