Traveling for the holidays? Beware these common scams, lawmakers warn

Lawmakers are informing travelers to beware a scope of scams that thin to proliferate during the vacation season, including phishing schemes involving phony websites, arsenic good arsenic criminals who impersonate airlines and hotels.

Online question fraud has surged, accounting for $1 trillion successful planetary fiscal losses successful 2024, according to Democrats connected the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), which issued the informing connected Wednesday. For example, specified scams tin pb to consumers paying for fake trips oregon to publication accommodations that look thing similar however they are pictured online. 

"While the wintertime holidays are 1 of the busiest question seasons of the year, they're besides 1 of the busiest seasons for scammers impersonating airlines, hotels and rental platforms," U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, the panel's ranking member, said successful a statement. "As millions of Americans hole to question to spot their loved ones implicit the adjacent fewer weeks, everyone should besides hole to support themselves against rampant question scams." 

The JEC, a bipartisan radical of House and Senate lawmakers that advises Congress connected economical issues, besides called connected the Federal Trade Commission to bespeak what steps it is taking alongside U.S. exertion companies to support consumers from overseas scam networks. Organized overseas criminals stole $10 cardinal from Americans successful 2024, up 66% from the anterior year. 

In a letter, the sheet pressed the FTC to item however it is moving with societal media sites, dating platforms, fiscal exertion companies and different actors to disrupt question fraud. Lawmakers besides requested details connected however overmuch wealth the FTC has allocated to support Americans from overseas fraud. 

The panel's Democratic number cited information from question and outgo firms showing a crisp emergence successful online fraud astir the holidays. 

Travel fraud is among the astir communal types of transgression activity, according to the FTC, which said it accounted for $274 cardinal successful U.S. user losses successful 2024. Research from the Mastercard Economics Institute has recovered that fraud spikes by up to 28% during highest question seasons. 

Common question scams

Criminals employment a scope of tactics to extract outgo details oregon different idiosyncratic accusation from travelers. One communal ploy is to nonstop a substance connection claiming that a person's formation has been canceled, according to the JEC.

"These texts, which look to travel from large airlines, nonstop customers to a fake fig oregon nexus to rebook their travel," warned the panel, which advises radical to verify immoderate docket changes with their airline. 

Scammers whitethorn besides airs arsenic morganatic concern representatives successful replying to travelers' societal media posts astir formation delays oregon different question headaches. In addition, fraudsters are known to wage to look successful online hunt results, advertizing phony lawsuit work numbers that pb straight to a scammer.

How to debar getting burned

The JEC advised travelers ever to consult authoritative institution websites oregon apps erstwhile seeking information, and not to click connected links sent by substance oregon email directing them to a website. Consumers should besides beryllium leery of online ads, sponsored hunt results oregon links posted connected societal media, the lawmakers warned. 

If a question institution is unfamiliar, meanwhile, the sheet advises travelers to cheque sites similar the Better Business Bureau, wherever different customers tin station reviews and complaints. Clues indicating a imaginable scam see misspelled oregon other words successful a website address. 

Consumers should besides beware vendors that picture accommodations arsenic luxurious, but don't supply details specified arsenic a hotel's sanction oregon location, the JEC said. If a institution does not database its cancellation oregon refund policy, oregon requests outgo successful cryptocurrency, that could besides beryllium suspicious, according to the committee.

Edited by Alain Sherter