Attention, travelers! Fraud warning: These goals are particularly dangerous!

Attention, travelers! Fraud warning: These goals are particularly dangerous!

Hanoi, Vietnam - The fraud in the area of ​​travel bookings accepts questionable dimensions, as current reports. In popular holiday regions in particular, fraud cases often occur that affect tourists to a considerable extent. According to information from vietnam.vn , street dealers in Hanoi are an example of this problem by selling foreign tourists small sacks for astronomical 200,000 and which leads to outrage.

The concern for fraud in the travel area is not unfounded. A study shows that the fraud rate for bookings at travel companies is four times higher than in other industries. Often it happens after a booking that travel offers are not fulfilled or run differently than promised.

regional differences and risks

David Mann, chief economist for the Asian-Pacific area at the MasterCard Economic Institute, explains that the risk of fraud varies significantly depending on the city. In some destinations, fraud occurs primarily for tour operators, but in others in the catering sector. Mastercard data identify cities with the lowest fraud rates such as San Francisco, Dublin and Seoul, while higher fraud rates in Cancun, Hanoi, Dhaka and Bangkok are recorded.

Frequent types of fraud that affect travelers contain tours, luggage, car rental, hotels and restaurants. It is particularly worrying that the fraud in connection with travel planning last year has increased by more than 12 %. In this regard, travelers are asked to pay attention to offers that are "too good to be true".

The German travel side security situation

In Germany, a survey by McAfee shows that every third German German has already been the victim of fraud in travel books. This survey, which 6000 adults interviewed, points out that 54 percent of Germans are planning to travel abroad in 2024. Cybercriminals take advantage of the high season to bait travelers with tempting offers.

phishing is a widespread method in which personal information is stolen by fake emails. Terrifyingly, 24 percent of the respondents have already specified their credit card or bank card data on fraudulent websites. In addition, 66 percent of Germans are concerned about fraud, which is facilitated by AI and Deepfakes.

measures to protect travelers

To protect itself from fraud, McAfee recommends using serious security software with anti-phishing protection. Travelers should pay particular attention to unusually low prices and be careful with the unconditional messages that request personal information. Providers without evaluations are suspicious, and credit card data should never be entered outside the booking platform.

In addition, there are helpful measures that travelers can take to secure themselves. This includes setting up e-wallets, the conclusion of travel insurance and the use of credit cards that offer fraud protection. These precautions are particularly important in order to counteract the increasing fraud cases in the travel industry and travel more safely.