Publications
Partners
- Scammers have turned their attention to people planning their holidays.
- Their scams include fraudulent air tickets, fake accommodation sites, and surveys aimed at stealing people's personal information.
- A cybersecurity service provider has urged people to do thorough research and checks before making holiday bookings.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
Scammers are using various techniques to get people to part with their cash.
And, since international travel is popular at the moment, scammers have turned their attention to this sector by creating bogus accommodation and flight booking sites and using "travel surveys" to harvest people's personal information, according to Kaspersky, a cybersecurity and anti-virus software provider.
"Scammers are always on the lookout for unsuspecting travellers, targeting their excitement for vacation planning," Kapersky security expert Olga Svistunova says, adding that con artists "employ various tactics to steal money and sensitive information".
Here are three holiday scams to look out for, according to Kaspersky, and tips to avoid falling for them:
Ticket scams
Kaspersky has discovered many fraudulent websites which seem to offer cheap airplane tickets, but actually have a or specific goal: stealing people's money and personal information.
These scam websites imitate well-known airline services and ticket aggregators – and some even display real and up-to-date flight details.
"These scams aim to steal your money and exploit your personal information for malicious purposes. This may include selling your bank details and identifying information on the dark web," Kaspersky says.
Accommodation scams
Scammers are also looking to exploit the accommodation booking process to steal people's money and information.
A common scam is to create fake online listings for attractive but low-priced properties on popular accommodation websites.
Once a booking is made and payment has been transferred, victims discover that the accommodation is non-existent.
Accommodation scams may even create a fake website that mimics a booking platform.
The booking sites may prompt people to log on with personal information which can then be used for unauthorised transactions, identity theft, or other malicious activities.
Survey or giveaway scams
Scammers are also creating websites or send emails to people claiming that they can earn a substantial reward for completing a travel survey.
"These scams often prey on people's desire for financial gain and their willingness to share their opinions," Kaspersky says.
In the end, scammers harvest the information, which can be used for nefarious purposes.
Needless to say, the promised reward is never delivered.
Prevention
To avoid falling victim to these scams, people should stick to reputable and trusted websites, be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true, be wary of inconsistencies on websites, such as misspelt words or unusual domain names, and read reviews and do research before making a purchase.
In addition to this, people should consider getting a security solution to offer a layer of protection from online scams.
Anyone who has fallen victim to a scam should report the incident to their bank and law enforcement authorities.
But holiday scams are just one category of scams used to steal money from people in South Africa.
South Africa has a particularly high prevalence of online scams, partly due to its poor cybercrime investigations and prosecutions, says Craig Pederson, a forensic investigator who is a director at TCG Forensics.
READ NOW | South Africa on the verge of becoming 'cybercrime capital of Africa’
He says cybercrimes can be perpetrated by anyone who has a cellphone and internet connection, but that organised crime groups work together to run increasingly sophisticated scams.
"There's a lot of reputational harm that can come to South Africa from being deemed to be an insecure jurisdiction for cybercrime," Pederson says.
READ NOW | When buying puppies online, beware: Organised crime groups are robbing South Africans blind
Common scams in South Africa include e-commerce theft, puppy scams, romance scams, investment scams, and bank impersonation scams.
