Raleigh International

A gap year student's parents are warning of an internet scam that asks for money and can con people into thinking their children are in jail.

Mr and Mrs Hogg received an email from their son's account, while he was in Colombia, begging for money to pay off corrupt policemen. However, as they were about to wire the money over, they received a phone call from 19-year-old Josh who was absolutely fine and enjoying his travels. Opportunists had hacked into his email and Facebook accounts and pretended to be him.

Gap year students and their parents will be pleased to know that Raleigh expedition countries Costa Rica and Nicaragua have been named as the safest in Central America according to a report from international business analysts, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The study showed that international rankings put Costa Rica at the top of the travel safety list, followed by Nicaragua. Nicaragua was also named as the fastest country in which to start a business and the country that best protects its investors.