Booking Summer Travel? One in Five People Will Be Scammed
Scams and data breaches are everywhere nowadays. In fact a new study from McAfee found that one in five Americans have been scammed or nearly scammed when booking summer travel.
The study, which involved surveying 1,000 Americans, also included these concerning data:
- 30% of travel-related scam victims reported they lost between $1,000 and $3,000 as a result of the fraudulent activity.
- 31% of vacation scam victims were defrauded after spotting a deal that was too good to be true.
- 31% are vulnerable to fraud because they do not check the authenticity of a website before booking a trip online
- Even though 36% of people said they were concerned about having their personal data stolen while on vacation, almost half (42%) said they either do not check the security of their internet connection or they willingly connecting to an unsecured network while traveling.
Here are the top summer destinations hackers are targeting via potentially malicious sites that show up in searches:
- Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Venice, Italy
- Canmore, Canada
Conclusion
Keeping your data safe is not an easy task. But you can take steps to minimize the risk. Only use verified websites. Sign up with an identity theft protection. Some of these services have been offered for free after recent data breaches such as Equifax. Also avoid using public wi-fi networks for sensitive transactions.
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This post is legit. My luggage was stolen in Venice. All my stuff including passport and wallet in it. I only have one AMEX Plat in my pocket thats good enough for me to get a temporary passport at US embassy in Milan. Horrible memory.
They can give you a temp. passport based on a credit card info?