Travel scams are skyrocketing nowadays, especially for those going on vacation. Learning how to avoid being scammed while vacationing can help keep you and your family safe while you’re out and about, enjoying your time off. Scammers are at it again looking at ways they can take advantage of unsuspecting travelers. According to the famous travel site www.booking.com, scammers are now using AI-generated phishing emails that can cost victims more than what they budgeted for their entire vacation.Â
Studies show that this type of travel-related scam has increased some 900% in the last 18 months. Scammers have been busy taking full advantage of victims enjoying some needed time off with their loved ones.
Let’s get into how this is happening and what you can do to protect yourself.
How it’s Done
What scammers are doing now is using big sites like Booking.com or Airbnb.com where people go to book a hotel or Airbnb place to stay while on vacation. Upon booking their rooms, scammers then start spamming them with time-sensitive discounted deals to alternative bookings they can stay that are close by to where they’re going to be.
However, the locations are bogus and nonexistent.
Once a victim decides to take advantage of this “bogus offer”, the scammer then vanishes with the victim’s money, or they continue to send more spam emails to collect additional “bogus fees”. Once they have received the money they want, they disappear.
Mind you, vacation-based phishing scams aren’t a new thing. Scammers have been doing it for years. The problem now is that they’re using AI to do their dirty work. They use AI to create very convincing phishing emails, which are of much better quality compared to what they’ve been able to generate themselves in the past.
As I said before in a previous article, AI is creating a lot of opportunities for all types of people, even cybercriminals.
With that said, there are a few things that you can do to protect yourself so that you don’t become a victim of travel or vacation scams.
Using Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
This may be an extra step that you have to do, but whenever possible, try and have a confirmation code sent to you via text or email upon logging in. Many banks have that feature today for verification purposes. They’ll either send you an email or text. Especially if you’re logging in from a new device or location you don’t normally log in from.
This adds an extra layer of security to your accounts, ensuring that if someone were to get access to your accounts or information, they’re not able to get away with it so easily. Each time you use 2FA to secure your accounts, you are making a practice decision to keep yourself and your online accounts protected.
So whenever possible, see if you can opt for this option when it’s available.
Avoid Unsolicited Offers and Deals
This is where most people get caught, unfortunately, they fall victim to phishing emails that look too good to pass up. They fall for the bait by clicking the link that’s in that email, and that’s where the trouble begins.
Here’s some advice for you, if you receive an email promoting a deal that looks too good to be true, it most likely is too good to be true! Ignore and delete that email. Resist the impulse to click to find out more. If you’re not certain that email could be spam, search for that deal using another web browser or even search the site to see if that deal shows up organically. You can even call their customer service if possible and see if they can verify that deal or promotion.
If it cannot be verified, ignore the email. It could very well be a scam.
Verify Contact Information
Before making any reservation with any booking company online, verify they are who they say they are. Contact them using the contact information they provide on their website. The best option here is by phone. You could try and send them an email, but again because email is the source that scammers tend to use to do their dirty work, they can easily disguise themselves as being legitimate and reply to your email.
Reviews are another great resource you can use. Have other satisfied customers stayed at this location, and if so, what was their experience like? Hotels and Airbnb always encourage customers to leave great reviews to help build a good reputation for them and attract more customers.
Legitimate travel companies care about their reputation, both online and offline, and put a great emphasis on maintaining a positive image and brand. Positive reviews and testimonials are a great way for them to do that.
On a final note, ensure these are verified customers who are leaving reviews. For instance Google reviews, or in the case of Airbnb, ensure that you’re on Airbnb’s website when looking at the reviews. They have a thorough process of verifying all their customers.
Credit Cards Versus Debit Cards
When making large purchases online, like booking a vacation, it’s best to use a credit card instead of using your bank card (debit card). If you find yourself a victim of a scam, it’s easier to recover with a credit card than it is with a debit card.
The credit card company can put a stop on payments, and have a whole process in place to find and get the money back that was stolen. Not so with a debit card. It’s a bit more difficult to recover your money via your bank. Not only that but also the scammer will have access to your bank account, and do further damage.
Use a credit card to book your vacation and use your bank card to pay the balance back once you get back from vacation.
Be Vigilant
Prevention is always better than cure. So pay attention and analyze any and every email that’s offering you something to buy. If you don’t recognize the sender, delete it and report it as spam or junk mail. It’s possible for some to still slip through the cracks even if you have security software like an antivirus, so be sure to look out for any red flags that you see.
Although this topic is about vacation scams, understand that a similar type of scam can happen to your business. Without the proper support system in place, it will not only be difficult to prevent cybercrime from happening but also recovery will prove to be a major challenge as well.
We can help with that.
To keep your network and overall office secure, call our office at 571-498-8208, or contact us here. Our outsourced IT services will help your business run smoothly and securely 24/7.
Be sure to enjoy the rest of your summer vacation and stay safe!