Holidaymakers warned of scammers after Thomas Cook collapse

Scammers quick to take advantage of the Thomas Cook collapse have already started trying to trick people out of their money.

Customers who had booked a holiday with the collapsed travel firm have been targeted by fraudsters via texts, calls and emails asking them for financial details by saying they can issue a refund for cancelled holidays and flights.

One woman who had booked to a holiday to Turkey in October, had booked through Teletext Holidays, but her flight was with Thomas Cook.

However, after the collapse, Teletext Holidays said they would try to re-arrange the flight, but the holidaymaker was asked to pay another £160 per person for alternative ones, which were not even direct on the return flight.

So the woman cancelled her package with Teletext Holidays and is due to receive a full refund to her credit card.

But the day after cancelling the package, she received an email which looked like it had been sent from Thomas Cook, asking her to click on a link so she could get a refund for her cancelled flights.

The 47-year-old, who didn't want to be named, said: "I knew it was a scam immediately as I'd already cancelled with Teletext Holidays.

"I work in the IT industry so I am aware of such scams, but other people may not realise this sort of thing happens.

"It's wicked really, the email came just a day after the collapse of Thomas Cook. It's shocking they try to take advantage of other people's misfortune."

Thomas Cook has collapsed during the early hours of Monday morning after 178 years of trading.

The company had failed to get the £200million it needed to keep its lenders happy.

Action Fraud has tweeted about the fraudsters to warn people not to fall for the scams and be wary of any unsolicited text messages or calls.