Avoid Summer Travel Scams

Summer is here and so are travel scams! If you are making vacation plans, you might be looking for a deal. Remember, while you look for bargains, threat actors are looking for ways to reach you and take your money.

Travel scams can come up when you are searching online for hotels and flights. Scammers may even use paid ads to put their number out alongside a well-known company’s name or link it to a website looking to belong to a hotel brand or airline.

Avoid these scammers and look at the unpaid search results. Always check to make sure you have the right website or contact information for the company you are looking to do business with. Type the company’s website directly into your browser if you know it, to avoid clicking through ads.

If you plan to drive for your vacation, the scammers have thought of this too. They will sent texts about fake “unpaid tolls” and demand immediate payment. If you are unsure if this text is real, reach out to the state’s toll agency using a phone number or website you know is right. Do not use the information from the text.

Things to know to avoid travel scams:

• Get all the details of a travel offer before you commit. If the company can’t or won’t give you more specific details (other than saying “you’ll stay at a ‘five-star’ resort”), walk away immediately.
• Do some research. Look up the names of travel companies, hotels, rentals, and agents with the words “scam,” “review,” or “complaint.” This will allow you to see what others are saying about them before you commit.
• Look at how they ask you to pay. Only scammers say the only way to pay is by wire transfer, gift card, payment app, or cryptocurrency. They prefer these methods. Once you send your money via one of their requested ways, they will collect the money and make it almost impossible to get it back.

Spot this scam? Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Source: https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/06/how-avoid-travel-scam-summer

Back