McAfee Research Warns of Summer Travel-Booking Scams

Stress, rising travel costs and last-minute bookings make travelers more susceptible to online travel scams. Meanwhile, scammers are becoming a bit craftier, impersonating popular brands like Tripadvisor with alarming accuracy.

McAfee conducted a survey earlier this year that found nearly 40 percent of travelers have encountered a travel-related scam, with more than 40 percent of those individuals losing money as a result. Furthermore, nearly 50 percent of those who did lose money, lost more than $500.

A third of survey respondents said they ignored potential scam red flags in hopes of snagging a travel deal, and 41 percent automatically trusted messages that appeared to come from hotels or airlines, without actually verifying their legitimacy.

Additionally, McAfee found Tripadvisor was the most commonly impersonated travel brand, far exceeding Kayak, Expedia and Booking.com. The most common and most effective travel scams, according to the survey, include fake travel deals or promotions; false booking confirmations; fake vacation rental listings; and impersonations of airline and hotel customer service, among others.

“The cost of travel is getting more expensive each year, and that’s changing how people make decisions,” said Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research, McAfee. “When prices are high and availability feels tight, people will likely move faster. Scammers take advantage of that by impersonating the travel brands and messages consumers already trust. AI is making these scams faster to create, more convincing and easier to scale…”