For those of you who love to travel, or are planning to travel soon, you might want to dig a little bit deeper into your traveling agency. Better yet, can someone just come up with a list naming these fake travel agents? It’s depressing to know that a massive amount of people have tragically burned their hard-earned money thanks to these con artists.
The public needs to be informed and reminded. Injustice is ugly, which is why when we were contacted by a victim, part of a group of many other victims scammed by this so-called travel agent, we had to address the issue.
Speaking to WORLD OF BUZZ, a victim explained her shocking experience dealing with an extremely skilled serial scammer, Mr. Ariel from Anchor Orchid Hotel.
Ariel seems quite professional and competent when you first deal with him, and so she had nothing to suspect until the date of her vacation drew closer. She must’ve felt so bad for only realising that she was deceived when her vacation date was due.
The victim said that she had planned the trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia with her friends since the beginning of the year and was introduced to Anchor Orchid Hotel by a friend.
The conversations are lengthy, but here are the key points that made “Mr. Ariel” and “Anchor Orchid Hotel” seem so trustworthy:
1. They offered seasonal promotions.
Source: WOB
2. Youtube videos of the hotel were prepared.
Source: WOB
3. Itineraries for every promotion and package were given. They were even explained in detail with flyers.
Source: WOB
4. Transportation included.
Source: WOB
5. “Owned” by a Malaysian.
Source: WOB
6. Gave out invoices through e-mail and Whatsapp.
Source: WOB
7. Allegedly “professional” at handling Malaysians.
Source: WOB
8. The trip back to KL was also discussed.
Source: WOB
9. Discounts were also given.
Source: WOB
Even after the victim had made her payment, Mr. Ariel continued to contact her, which made her feel all was well and she could just look forward to her vacation.
Source: WOB
However, things started to get fishy after making the payment as Mr. Ariel had trouble sending the room booking confirmation documents and this went on for days as he tried to play it off leisurely.
Source: WOB
And he only e-mailed it 12 days later.
Source: WOB
They didn’t contacted each other much after that, but Mr. Ariel suddenly got less talkative, which is definitely suspicious as the victim had to take the initiative to remind him when they would be arriving. It’s supposed to be his job to check on his clients. He even responded blandly.
Source: WOB
The nervous victim finally had it with the silent treatment and decided that she should contact the agent again to ensure her peace of mind. Sadly the agent didn’t respond and when they actually reached the destination on the 29th of October, Ariel was nowhere to be found.
Source: WOB
According to the victim, it was painful for them to try and get another agent. So, they booked a hotel using the Agoda application and still enjoyed the vacation with a tour guide recommended by their friend.
Apparently, in the middle of their vacation, the victim and her friend managed to visit the so-called “Anchor Orchid Hotel” Ariel had promised they would be staying in and found out that the hotel was out of business.
Source: WOB
Source: WOB
Source: WOB
Source: WOB
It was a bitter truth that the victim had to swallow, despite the fact that she had lost RM1,274 to the scammer. Furthermore, after the trip, she discovered a Facebook group called Ariel Angkor Orchid Scammer Group, a group dedicated to those who had been scammed by Ariel because apparently he is still working hard at finding new ‘customers’.
Thus, to avoid any more painful experiences such as this one, the victim decided that the world should know about this.
Hopefully, with this, everyone will stay vigilant and make sure to do as much research as possible to make sure they don’t get scammed by crooks like Ariel.
Also read: Beware: M’sian Photoshops Face Onto Real Doctor’s Photos to Do Online Love Scams
