Travel scams are getting harder to spot. Here's how to stay safe

Travel scams are getting harder to spot as fraudsters use more advanced tactics and AI to create realistic fake websites and exploit stolen data, according to experts. In a June Federal Trade Commission report, Americans reported losing $3.5 billion to scams involving impostors contacting them via text, email, phone, social media, and search engines; about one in three fraud reports were impostor scams, the most reported category. The story says scammers may target travelers even before boarding by impersonating hotels or airlines. It highlights “reservation hijacking,” where attackers use real booking details after phishing hotel staff for credentials, and recommends calling the hotel directly from official contact information rather than using links or numbers in messages. It also warns about flight-cancellation notifications that demand extra payment to “rebook.”