Australians lose thousands to fake cruise bookings via Chinese social media
Brisbane residents booked discounted cruises through Chinese travel agents on RedNote. They lost over AUD$3,500 when their bookings vanished days before departure.
Harry Harding and his housemate found a sold-out Carnival cruise advertised on RedNote, a Chinese social media platform. After paying a 10 per cent deposit, they received what appeared to be legitimate tickets and could log in to Carnival's website to buy Wi-Fi and reserve restaurants.
Six days before departure, the booking vanished. The seller largely stopped responding.
Because the travel agent had used a different credit card, Carnival would not share information for privacy reasons. Harding and his housemate eventually recovered their money by publicly challenging the travel agent online.
Lucy Liu had a similar experience, booking a five-day cruise for about 30 per cent less than the official price. Her booking was cancelled shortly before departure with changing explanations.
Liu later discovered the travel company's licence had reportedly been revoked by Beijing authorities. Travel agent Snow Yu explains how scams work: scammers use low advertised prices as bait and may use stolen credit cards.
When the cardholder disputes the charge, the booking is cancelled.
- US$2,500 (over AUD$3,500)
- Balance transferred
- 6 days
- Days before departure
- RedNote, Chinese social media
- Platform
Why it mattersCross-border cruise booking scams are becoming more sophisticated and harder to fight, leaving victims in Australia with limited legal options.
AustraliaAustralians booking holidays through third-party agents, especially on social media, face fraud risk with little help from authorities in multiple countries.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 3 h ago
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