The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) has issued a scam email warning to tourism operators after receiving information that several businesses have received false ‘directory listing’ requests.
These requests usually come in the form of an email inviting you to check, verify, renew or ‘claim your listing’. For many business owners this is the first time they are learning about their listings on those websites.
The scam company creates the impression that the tourism businesses already have a listing with this company as the emails are commonly titled ‘Review your Listing’, ‘Listing Advice Notice’ or ‘Renewal Notice’. It also creates the overall impression that you are simply ‘verifying’ or ‘updating’ your contact details cost-free.
There are many instances where these companies have names, logos and letterheads very similar to Tourism Industry Associations or State Tourism Organisations (STOs) for example tourismcanberra.com, resulting in confusion and many operators assuming that it is a legitimate invoice from their STO to update their ATDW listing, which they then pay in error.
Please note that VisitCanberra does not charge operators to be listed in ATDW or on the visitcanberra.com.au website.
If you are unsure of the authenticity of an email advising you to update your tourism business listing, contact atdw@act.gov.au