Each season has something unique to offer: the winter season revolves around comfy, cozy evenings huddled around a fireplace, while summertime is kinetic and bright, with beaches and plenty of outdoor activities.
But just as the seasons change, so too do the most common types of scams. During winter, there's lots of scams offering steep discounts on hot-ticket products and gadgets. And during summer, there's an abundance of travel and event-related scams.
It can be difficult adjusting to a new season of scams, and that's why we're going to dive into the ocean of seasonal summertime scams. Here’s the lowdown on the most common types of summer scams, what they look like, and what you can do to steer clear of them.
Types of Summertime Scams
On a broad level, summertime scams aren’t too different from normal scams. In other words, popular summertime scams still try to create a sense of urgency, and try to look just legitimate enough to fool you during a moment of weakness.
What's really changing, however, is the topic or the context surrounding these scams. Scammers are trying to capitalize on our behaviors throughout the seasons, and adjust the names, places, and information laid out in their scams accordingly.
Ticket Scams
Summer is the time for concerts, conventions, and conferences. Scammers are well-aware of this and advertise tickets to these events for steep discounts.
The only catch, they say, is how you need to pay. Sometimes grifters go through the effort of creating a website that looks like TicketMaster or SeatGeek, but most of the time they tell you to pay them personally through a peer-to-peer payment app like Zelle or Venmo.
In either case, they're relentless in peppering you with messages and notifications about what an incredible deal this offer is, and how you need to act fast before these tickets are gone.
Travel Scams
Vacation Rental Scams
Vacation rental scams take advantage of legitimate websites and marketplaces like Airbnb and VRBO, so it's a little harder to spot these scams compared to others.
Using those legitimate websites, scammers will create fake listings for properties that they don't own. Sometimes, they'll even make listings for properties that just don't exist.
Most people don't think twice about the listings on sites like Airbnb, and that's what makes this scam particularly scummy (and effective). By the time a victim realizes they're out of luck, it's usually too late and their money is long-gone.
Fake Travel Websites
Fake travel websites take some effort for scammers to build, but that means they're harder to spot at a glance for everyday people.
Spoofing a site like Kayak or Hotels.com, scammers will create a travel website that appears to offer insane deals on travel packages, flights, and hotels. Of course, none of these deals exist.
Fake travel websites are trying to get victims' personal and financial information by any means necessary. They'll try to create a sense of urgency in addition to only offering non-traditional payment types.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself?
Now that you've gotten a primer of some of the most popular summertime scams, here's what you can do to make sure you don't fall victim to them.
Verify Websites
Double-check and ensure the websites you're using are legitimate. Scammers have a large bag of tricks they pull from to make convincing, fake URLs, which can include:
Hyphenation
A different domain (.net instead of .com)
Inclusion or exclusion of extra words in the URL
A small typo, sometimes using alphanumeric characters that can be hard to distinguish (such as a lowercase "L" replacing a capital "I")
Book Hotels and Rooms Directly
The best rule of thumb here is to avoid booking through third-party companies, and book directly through the hotel or provider itself. Some third-party booking services are trustworthy, but booking directly through the hotel removes any doubt and ensures you won't get fooled by a scam travel service.
If you're booking a name-brand hotel, make a reservation through their website or their mobile app. In general, jump at every opportunity to book directly through a hotel or provider's official website or app.
Research Rental Properties
Always research potential rental properties ahead of time.
First, you should check to see what past reviews are saying about the rental property: were the listing photos accurate? Did it live up to the expectations being set in the listing description? When available, use previous reviews to inform and guide your process as to which rental property to choose.
But don’t let user reviews guide your entire research process. You should also be searching the rental property using separate sites to make sure it’s real. Conduct an online search for the owner's name and the property's address to verify that they have the right to rent out that property.
Pay with a Credit Card
Credit card payments offer more consumer protection than debit card purchases and cash transactions. If cash or crypto are the only payment options, that’s a red flag.
You should also treat peer-to-peer payment apps with the same apprehension as cash payments. Many of these apps offer little to no consumer protections, and once you send money on them, that money is practically gone for good.
Stay Vigilant
There's lots to do and plenty of places to be during summertime, so the frenzy to buy tickets and book hotel rooms can be a mad dash, and your find yourself booking appointments without a second thought.
Unfortunately, scammers are preying on exactly that. They’re hoping people are looking for the best deals, and rushing through their reservations without a second thought.
Ensure your plans are safe by slowing down and looking for the signs of summertime scams when you’re buying tickets and booking hotel reservations. That way you can enjoy your summer down by the beach, and not out on the street.