Booking Spring Travel? Protect Yourself From Online Scams With These Expert Tips

Wallet Watch is a new series on protecting your identity and financial well-being. For our next installment — and just in time for spring break — former secret service agent, author and NBC News law enforcement analyst Evy Poumpouras stopped by the 3rd Hour of TODAY to share tips for avoiding falling for online travel scams.

You can do everything right for your spring break trip and still get robbed before you even leave your house. Fraudsters and identity thieves love this time of year because travelers are rushed and distracted which creates the perfect environment for scams.

Airports are packed. Hotels are booking up. Families and college students are making quick decisions on their phones. When people are moving fast, they’re not evaluating risk. And scammers know it.

Airlines expect to carry more than 170 million passengers in March and April. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were more than 58,000 reports of travel, vacation and timeshare plan fraud in 2024. That same report put scams totaling $274 million with the typical loss per victim close to $1,000.

Scammers don’t need you to be careless. They need you to not be paying close attention. Here’s what to watch for and how to protect yourself before you book your vacation, while traveling, and even after you get home.

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• Beware of fake vacation rental listings: Scammers copy real photos from legitimate listings, price the property below market value and pressure you to “lock it in” quickly. They may post them on places like Facebook, Craigslist or Instagram making you think it’s a much better deal. Then they ask you to pay outside the platform through wire transfers, such as Zelle, Venmo or even crypto. This can happen even on trusted sites like Airbnb and Vrbo where they try to get you to pay outside the platform or move to direct messaging. Once you arrive, the property either doesn’t exist or isn’t yours to stay in.
• Avoid travel agent impersonators: Professional-looking websites, polished emails and even fake customer service numbers can convince travelers they’re booking a legitimate airfare or vacation package. You may receive a fake itinerary or no booking at all. They may even impersonate a known travel agent or agency in an attempt to steal your personal information such as your name, date of birth, passport number and even banking details. Because the interaction seems authentic, many travelers don’t question it until it’s too late to recover their funds.

• Keep all communication and payments on official platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo. If someone asks you to move the conversation to text, WhatsApp or a personal email, stop immediately.
• Avoid hard-to-reverse payment methods. Wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency and peer-to-peer apps offer little protection if something goes wrong.
• Use a credit card for major travel purchases. Credit cards typically offer stronger fraud protections than debit cards.
• Slow down the urgency. “This deal expires in 10 minutes” or “Only 1 seat left” is not customer service; it’s pressure. Scammers rely on emotional decision-making to force victims to move fast instead of thinking clearly.

TIP: The moment someone pressures you to act fast, pause, take a breath and check that it’s legitimate.

• Be careful when joining Wi-Fi networks: At airports and hotels, scammers create official WiFi hotspots with names nearly identical to the real ones, such as “Airport Guest Wi-Fi” or “Hotel Guest 5G". Sometimes WiFi names can be simply one letter or character different. Connecting to these fraudulent networks can expose your passwords, banking information or personal data.
• Beware of public charging risks (“juice jacking”): Compromised USB ports or cables in airports, hotel lobbies, rideshare vehicles or public charging stations can allow unauthorized access to your device while it’s charging. In some cases, that connection can install hidden malware or give someone remote control to your phone, tablet or computer without you realizing it.

• Guard your phone like your wallet.
• Verify hotel networks at the front desk before logging in.
• Use your cell phone hotspot rather than public Wi-Fi.
• Bring your own wall charger or portable power bank.

TIP: Turn off the auto join Wi-Fi feature on your device as your phone can sometimes confuse fraudulent sites from official ones.

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How to Avoid Scams and Protect Digital Identity on Spring Break

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• Post-stay damage claims: After checkout, the host or someone posing as the property owner may claim you damaged the property, submit staged photos and issue inflated repair invoices, all designed to pressure you to pay quickly before you can dispute it. Often these images look legitimate as the scammers use AI to create them. If you pay without challenging the claim, you could lose hundreds of dollars for something you didn’t do.

• Document everything. Take video of the property both upon arrival as well as before your departure. The before video can show prior damage, if any. The after video proves you left no damage behind.
• Request itemized proof and timestamps of photos submitted by the scammer.
• Compare their photos with your own documentation.
• Keep all communication within the booking platform.
• Do not panic-pay to “make it go away.”

TIP: Create a strong 30-second walkthrough video capturing walls, appliances, furniture, even towels and sheets. This one habit can protect you from fraudulent damage or theft claims.

• Call your bank or credit card company immediately.
• Change passwords and enable two-factor authentication.
• Monitor your accounts for unusual activity.
• Report the incident to the Federal Trade Commission and the booking platform.

Speed matters when it comes to limiting damage so make the time to protect yourself, your money and your identity.

TIP: Don’t panic or make fear-based decisions. Scammers try hard to frighten you into paying or else … Don’t take the bait.

Spring break should be about rest and connection, not recovering from fraud. The good news is that most scams follow predictable patterns. When you slow down, verify what you’re being asked to do and document everything, you remove the advantage scammers rely on.

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• Evy Poumpouras is a former secret service agent, author and NBC News law enforcement analyst.

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