Travel Scams & Phishing! How to Plan a Vacation Online Safely in 2023

It’s that time of year again! Holidays are ON, and so are online scams! With everyone planning and booking their favorite getaways in no time, the potential threat of getting scammed has increased rapidly. Scammers from across the globe target online users, trying to make bookings by using phishing as a primary means of tricking people. 

If you are planning a vacation and tend to make bookings online, this blog post is a must-read for you. In this one, we look at some latest travel scams and phishing techniques scammers have opted for and how you can escape them with a little presence of mind. 

Types of Scams & Dangers Waiting for You Online

While planning for a vacation, users are usually ecstatic. At the moment when they have mentally reached the place where they want to be, users often lose attention to detail as a virtue. This leads to multiple cases of scams and online fraud. Going online to book your favorite hotel or experience seems exceptionally convenient. However, you may be shocked to know that scammers have found a way to ruin it for you!

Here are some highlighted scams and dangers that await you when you are set to make bookings online – 

1. Fake Booking Websites for Phishing (Booking.com, Airbnb, Etc.)

When traveling far, you first look for a cozy stay that makes your vacation comfortable. Scammers are entirely aware of what their target audience is searching for, and that is precisely where they prey on their victims. 

You might be shocked to know there are proper fake websites that resemble the interface of top online booking websites for hotels and stays. Scammers create a fake website with a domain name similar to the original website and the same interface. 

Booking.com and Airbnb are the two biggest online names scammers use to trick their clients. The idea is simple: scammers appear on top when a user searches for original platforms, thanks to Google search ads. Users usually do not pay attention to what link they are opening as long as it has the same results as they expect. This is how they end up falling for the trap. 

The purpose of such a scam is to gain access to the login credentials of the targets. As soon as the user enters the original ID and password, it is saved in the scammer’s database, which they may later use to intercept any transactions or gain access to banking details you saved in the account. 

2. Identity Theft Using Fake Survey Forms in Exchange for Discounts

Another danger that online vacation planners come across is identity theft. But how? Before making any reservations or bookings, a user always tries to find the best deal. Scammers are aware of this tendency of a user and hence try to capitalize on it. 

This scam works because multiple pop-up ads appear whenever a user is looking to book a flight, a stay, or an experience. Scammers design these ads to make them appear as an integral part of the platform a user is using. These pop-ups ask users to take a quick survey in exchange for a bonus coupon or a discount.

While users find it helpful with their bookings and look at such a survey to save a few extra bucks, the scammer’s intentions differ. With the help of fake forms and surveys, scammers plan to gain access to user information. There are some designed fake questions that hardly mean anything to them. However, primary data such as your last name, first name, address, phone number, preferred payment method, etc., is worth a fortune. 

All this data can be used to create more fake profiles. The data is always up for selling on the dark web, leading to identity theft. 

3. Practical Man-in-the-Middle Attacks While Creating Reservations

You might have heard of man-in-the-middle attacks where scammers position themselves as an application representative and try to yield data from a user. Scammers also use the exact process to ruin your vacation planning. Scammers tend to plant themselves as a communication agent for a travel company, a hotel, or sometimes even for fight tickets. 

Creating a reservation is almost free for anything and everything across the world. Sure, a few entities, such as flight tickets and hotels, require a minimum amount to be paid at the time of reservation of seats or reservation or desired rooms. Still, that particular amount is a lot less than the original prices.

The man-in-the-middle tries to impersonate the official from the particular agency where you plan to make a booking. Then, they create reservations and bookings by paying a minimum amount and ask you for complete details along with payment. Since the scammer has made a reservation, you can check online and confirm with the property that there is a booking in your name, which makes the scam more convincing. 

However, you do not realize that when you reach the reserved place or look for your flight tickets, the scammer and your money will be gone!

Other than these, sometimes users are sent fake emails related to their bookings with malware in attachments. This is an attack on the personal data that is available on your PC. When you download and open the attached files, your system is induced with a virus that yields your data and shares it with the scammer without your knowledge. 

How to Stay Safe from Vacation Scams?

Looking at the way scammers use phishing and other techniques to fool users. You may question your choices of booking your next vacation online. Well, no matter what happens, the convenience online offers is incomparable. This is why altogether avoiding online bookings is a next-to-impossible task. 

However, you can use precautions and avoid scams and phishing attacks by keeping your eyes open and using some means that help you stay safe online. Here’s what you can do – 

• Always open the websites directly, do not rely on Google Search results or click on Ads per se.
• Never make payments without proper confirmation of reservations and the nature of reservations (paid or promised)
• Avoid filling out coupon survey forms, as they hardly help save anything. If nothing, they cost you your personal information.
• Always use a VPN before connecting to websites where you believe making payments or personal information will be required. Using an encrypted connection can help you minimize any interference from scammers. We recommend Systweak VPN for this purpose.
• Look at the URL of every website you visit while trying to make a booking. This helps you from falling for fake websites and webpages designed for phishing.
• Do not simply rely on the booking mails. Try cross-checking every booking you have made by directly calling the properties, airlines, and respective experience providers.
• Make sure your Antivirus and ad blocker are ON before you plan to create bookings. Also, avoid downloading extra files without an active firewall, as you may be targeted with malware.

There are several ways to keep yourself safe from a scam. It only depends on how diligent you are when booking your vacation. If you have had a bad experience before or have heard other people experiencing the same, you should first install a VPN and antivirus program. 

These programs keep you safe overall as they have applications in every scenario. If you do not know where to start, Systweak VPN is a good option. It has military-grade encryption and fantastic features to help you stay safe online. 

With that being said, we have reached the end of this post. Everyone deserves a nice vacation now and then, but what no one deserves is getting scammed out of money. Stay safe! Happy vacations!

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