When planning your vacation and during your trip, you should always be vigilant. Otherwise, like a quarter of Germans, you will fall victim to fraudsters. This is how you can protect yourself.
It’s not just pickpockets you have to watch out for on vacation. (Source: VitalikRadko/depositphotos.com)
Severe loss in bookings
The three most common fraud cases
Important when planning
How to stay safe on vacation
It’s summer and for many Germans that means that the holiday season is approaching or has already begun. Whether you’re heading to the beach or a city trip, there are a few things to consider when planning. After all, you want to make sure you have good accommodation and fun activities on site. But there are a few things to consider. Not all offers circulating on the Internet are serious.
Cyber criminals love to take advantage of the holiday season to entangle you in scams. Your travel destination is crucial. Some holiday destinations are particularly popular for scams.
As part of the “Safer Summer Travel Report”, the security experts at McAfee conducted a study and surveyed 6,000 people from Germany, the USA, Great Britain, France, Australia and Japan on the topic of safety on vacation. The results are shocking, but they do provide some helpful insights.
Severe loss in bookings
According to the study, Germans are particularly cautious when booking vacations, and there is a reason for this. 28 percent of those surveyed have already fallen victim to fraudsters when booking their vacation. Younger people in particular are affected. 52 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they had already fallen victim to online travel fraud. One in three Germans has lost at least 900 euros in a single scam.
Since this summer has a lot to offer sports enthusiasts with the 2024 European Football Championship, the Olympic Games, Wimbledon and Formula 1 races, you should be especially wary of fake offers. 62 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are planning a trip to one of these sporting events. This group seems particularly vulnerable to holiday scams.
Half of all German participants surveyed between the ages of 18 and 29 said they had already experienced fraud on holiday. In comparison, the figure for 50 to 65 year olds was only 12 percent.
The three most common fraud cases
The study found that German holidaymakers are particularly frequently affected by three scams. In third place are excursions that differ greatly from those promised or advertised. In second place is accommodation fraud. After paying a deposit on arrival, it turns out that the accommodation does not exist. And in first place are events or excursions where the provider does not show up after payment has already been made.
Important when planning
To avoid falling victim to scammers, you need to take precautions before you travel. Be especially careful of phishing messages. This tactic is particularly popular with cyber criminals to get your personal data. But it is also a good way to trick you into downloading malware via a link or file.
If you receive unsolicited messages sent on behalf of airlines, hotels or financial institutions demanding that you disclose your data, you should be immediately alarmed. You should also be skeptical at first if you are offered ridiculously low prices.
It is also important that you can recognize fake real estate ads. Fraudsters often use images of real properties that are not for rent or generate images using AI. Thanks to reverse image search, you can quickly find out where the photos really come from.
Before you book something, you should also take a look at the provider’s website. Check whether it is trustworthy by looking for media reports. You should also stay away from ads without reviews. We also advise you to only communicate via the provider’s platforms.
How to stay safe on vacation
You should also remain vigilant on vacation. A healthy dose of suspicion is a good thing, for example, as fraudsters can easily pose as hotel employees or fellow travelers in order to obtain your personal information. If you want to book an event, you should definitely find out in advance about the seriousness of the provider.
You also need to be careful when using your cell phone. Avoid public networks. These are often unencrypted and offer hackers an easy target. Important data that you transmit could be intercepted. However, you can protect yourself with a VPN.
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