SALT LAKE CITY — With the Memorial Day Weekend marking the unofficial start of summer, many are ready to hit the road or fly the friendly skies for an enjoyable getaway. Just know that scammers are taking advantage of the itch to travel so they can take off with your money.
The American Automobile Association says whether it's by air or highway, travel numbers are creeping back up to pre-pandemic levels.
"We've been seeing a lot of scammers, creating fake listings they'll offer low prices, which can be tempting for travelers who are looking to save money," said Garret Thompson with Binary Defense Counterintelligence.
That includes ads for some of the most popular vacation rental services like Airbnb and Vrbo.
"However, once they turn around and pay for the rental, they may find out that property doesn't even exist. It could be a completely fake address or they can get to the property and it's not as it was advertised," he added. Airbnb and Vrbo they try their very best to remove these listings and try to avoid giving those people a platform but it's difficult because they turn around and keep creating fake accounts."
Maybe vacation rental homes aren't your thing and you'd rather stay in a hotel. Scammers have found a way to imitate those sites, too. They're even creating their own third-party airline booking sites in an attempt to get you to bundle your travel accommodations which means more money for them.
"They'll set up fake sites, fake websites they will offer great deals on travel or hotels get you to enter your credit card information or your bank account information or your travel details and of course they're not affiliated with a site or the hotel or with an airline," explained cyber security expert Alex Hamerstone.
To avoid booking a hotel reservation that doesn't really exist, consider not booking through third party sites and book directly from the hotel's website or give them a call.
If you want to avoid getting duped on a rental home, Thompson suggests asking the person that you are potentially renting from to provide proof of ownership of that property. You can request a copy of the driver's license or passport and then if you have any doubts, simply don't book the property.
Remember credit card skimmers? The devices used to steal your card's information that can be attached to ATMs? They're still around and now they're even smaller; they're called shimmers and they're placed inside the card reader.
Before you insert your card quickly scan the machine for obvious signs of tampering like holes, bubbles of glue or a displaced keyboard.
If it seems off, don't use it.
And if you're traveling out of the country or even out of state, it doesn't hurt to let your bank know ahead of time.
"Use a credit card, wherever possible not a debit card just because of the way the fraud works and your liability is much different of course check with your bank or your credit card company to make sure," said Hamerstone.