Four out of five Brazilians fall for scams when planning trips in high season, according to Norton

With the arrival of high season between the end and the beginning of the year, the security risks to travelers increase. Norton, cybersecurity brand of Gen™, revealed that four out of five (83%) of Brazilians were the target of a coup when booking a trip on vacation.In total, 8% of Brazilians interviewed reported having detected this type of scam at some point.

Among the most common scam modalities are: discounts and fake travel offers (41%); fake travel agencies (33%); fraudulent booking sites (29%); malvertising (14%); and phishing (11%). The economic impact is also significant: 90% of victims reported having lost money. The average loss among victims was R$ 2,375.98, the highest recorded of R$ 25.00.000.

During the trip, 8% of respondents who fell for scams when booking vacation trips faced problems such as: compromising credit or bank card information (37%); car rental scam (29%); scams on platforms such as Airbnb and hotels (27%); and more and inadequate accommodations (17%). In addition, 14% had their devices hacked or compromised on public Wi-Fi networks.

Another factor that aggravates these risks is the excessive and careless use of social networks during the holidays. According to the survey, 6 out of 10 respondents (60%) shared too much information on social networks during the holidays. Specifically, 37% posted photos of their travel destinations and 32% tagged other people in the holiday publications without asking permission. Similarly, 3 out of 10 (31%) marked their current location, 20% revealed their travel plans on social networks and (141st of birth, no name removed, no other train, no name of T203T20).

Iskander Sanchez-Rola, Director of Innovation at Norton, recommends that travelers take precautions to avoid falling for scams during high seasons. Among the tips of the expert are:

• Verify the authenticity of offers, services and sellers before conducting transactions.
• Share holiday experiences on social media only after the trip and avoid posting information in real time.
• Not sharing personal data of travel documents.
• Using a VPN to protect yourself when using public Wi-Fi networks.

With these security measures, Norton seeks to make users aware of the risks associated with traveling during high seasons, encouraging responsible practices to enjoy the holidays safely.

Methodology

The study was conducted online in Brazil by Dynata on behalf of Gen, between September 2 and 11, 2024, with 1,000 adults over 18 years.