Planning a vacation? Travel scammers may already be watching

Planning a vacation? Travel scammers may already be watching

Travel scams are a fast-growing type of fraud currently affecting travelers worldwide, with online retailer Booking.com reporting an up to 900% increase in fraudulent listings between 2023 and 2024.

Unlike other scams that can be a shot in the dark, travel scams are becoming more targeted than ever. Scammers rely on sophisticated data scraping methods that allow them to tailor their bait to the victim’s personal interests. These methods, alongside the rise of AI-generated content that looks quite convincing, create the perfect storm, leading to higher chances of trapping the victims.

PeopleFinders created this guide to boost your chances of spotting potential travel scams, and added some cybersecurity tips to protect yourself against intruders who steal your data for nefarious reasons.

The Digital Footprint That Predicts Your Next Vacation

You might have heard the term “algorithm” thrown around regarding how websites and apps show you their content. It simply is a series of predictions based on the type of content you usually interact with, which creates a log of data about your age, gender and sexuality, interests, hobbies, and location of residence.

The algorithm is usually created by a service you use or a website you frequently visit to cater to your priorities and give you the ads you’re more likely to interact with. Some apps and websites also ask for permission to monitor your internet use elsewhere to tune the algorithm to your likes and dislikes.

Things like your search history, posts mentioning travel on your social media profiles, and the cookies stored on your devices can paint a pretty accurate picture of your travel plans.

How Scammers Target Travelers: From Loyalty Breaches to Ghost Listings

Scammers always jump on cutting-edge technology to get their way, which means their methods are a step ahead of what regular users are familiar with. The following are some common ways travelers might get scammed.

Loyalty Program Exploitation

Some websites and apps that give you a service pertaining to travel (like accommodation booking or travel planning) have loyalty programs that store a bunch of your information. If the website’s data gets stolen, logs containing your travel preferences and priorities fall into the wrong hands.

The hackers stealing the data usually sell it to someone who wants to target the victims of the data breach with a hyper-targeted scam, and travel scams are usually the perfect bait.

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Hyper-Targeted Phishing Schemes

If your contact information becomes available to scammers, you might start receiving emails, text messages, or even automated calls advertising free or super-cheap vacations.

These scams aim to trick you into submitting sensitive financial information, like credit card information, so they can have access to your money. The method of contact doesn’t matter, but the way they reach out is usually personalized with your name to add legitimacy.

Fraudulent Rental Listings

If something looks too good to be true, especially when it comes to travel, it probably is. Aside from listings for rental places that don’t exist in real life, you might also run into AI-enhanced images of suboptimal rental properties with super low prices, or pay for a short-term rental, like an Airbnb, that someone else has already booked at the same time.

This is one of the most common types of travel scams worldwide. It’s also is particularly damaging, costing the victim the entire amount they sank into paying for the fraudulent accommodation, airfare, and then the replacement rental, where they’ll actually stay.

Reclaiming Control of Your Personal Travel Data

Protecting yourself from potential travel scams requires applying a few extra layers of security to your online presence. Here are a few tips to stay on the safe side:

• Obfuscate travel intent. You can do this by creating burner email addresses to sign up for travel services, using “incognito mode” on your browser while searching your destination, and using private search engines that don’t track your activity.
• Delete unused loyalty accounts. These accounts, whether for an airline or hotel chain, can be the gateway to stealing your data because they’re not very secure. Track down all your accounts and delete them, even if they’ve been dormant for a while.
• Conduct a prebooking security check. Even if you trust the website you’re using to make bookings for your next stay, you could receive phishing emails that match the official email used by the website. You should do a reverse email search for each confirmation email you receive to make sure you’re on the right track before you share any sensitive financial information. You can also use a reverse phone lookup if they’re calling you directly.

Practice Smart Browsing to Ensure Safe Travels

Travel scammers are joining forces with hackers, data brokers, and AI to create some of the most legitimate-looking targeted ads and emails. Even though the most experienced users can fall for these traps, being vigilant and double-checking each step can go a long way in preventing scams.

Keeping an eye out for unused loyalty accounts, using private browsing, and checking every email for legitimacy can help protect your financial and personal information even as these dangers spread.

This story was produced by PeopleFinders and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.