In 2023, Brits who went abroad lost a staggering £12million due to scams. That is according to antivirus company McAfee, who have warned tourists to watch out for unreliable holiday providers and fraudsters looking to rob you of your hard-earned cash.
Earlier this year, McAfee compiled a list of locations where tourists are most likely to be scammed, and a popular destination with Brits came out as the worst spot for holiday cons.
Benidorm, Spain, was found to be the location where fraudsters do most damage. In fact, the Costa Blanca region has seen a spike of websites and adverts selling scam offers to unsuspecting victims.
Benidorm was followed by Berlin in second and Ibiza in third for locations where tourists need to be careful when parting with their cash. Bangkok, Thailand, took the number one spot the previous year, but dropped to sixth this time around.
Vonny Gamot, McAfee’s Head of EMEA, gave this advice to those going on holiday: “Staying alert and taking early and proactive steps to manage your security, privacy and online identity is extremely important as we head into the peak summer holiday season.
“If a deal sounds too good to be true, it’s best to avoid clicking; instead, go direct to the source and book with reputable companies.”
Those booking holidays are also warned to not trust businesses and social media accounts just because they have professional-looking pages.
Reviews can also be misleading, as some sites try to boost their ratings by removing negative feedback. Third-party sites, sich as Trustpilot, are a good place to gauge a website’s reliability.
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