The CAA is urging customers to only make claims through the official dedicated site, which went live on Monday.

It said customer can “help us to combat the risk of fraud by not submitting your details to any other website”.

The aviation regulator said it had informed police of the activity and would implement further verification checks to protect consumers.

Meanwhile, consumer group Which? said scammers were targeting Thomas Cook customers directly.

“We have found evidence of fake refund websites attempting to fleece customers, so we would urge people to only use the dedicated refund website and not to turn to alternatives,” said Adam French, consumer rights expert at Which?

Thomas Cook customers who had holidays booked in the coming months can now apply for a refund via the official CAA website: thomascook.caa.co.uk/refunds.

Around 800,000 people were due to take trips with the now defunct holiday firm.

The CAA said refunds should be paid within 60 days of claims being made.