The 2023 travel season is expected to set records as the world moves on from the global COVID emergency.
This travel revival, unfortunately, also provides openings for scamsters. According to Patrick Falzon, general manager of Robokiller, “Consumers should follow these best practices to avoid phone scams during travel season, and beyond:”
- Do not engage with incoming calls from unknown numbers, especially if they call at odd hours. Avoid following prompts like pressing “1”, answering “yes,” or clicking links.
- Look out for any robotexts that contain misspelled words or grammatical errors. Those errors can be a sign that the robotext is a scam.
- Never provide personal information like banking details or other sensitive information to unknown callers. If the caller requires immediate action, consumers should hang up and call the company in question directly or visit their website instead. Legitimate companies won’t request sensitive information via robocall or robotext.
- Be wary of giveaways like a free vacation or discounted travel package, especially ones that ask you to pay a fee to claim your prize. It’s important to read any sweepstakes’ fine print and terms & conditions. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Bottom line: Legitimate travel companies will not call, text or email you unless you contact them first. Ignore unsolicited offers.
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