McAfee Research finds 1 in 3 Travelers Have Faced a Travel Scam as Rising Costs Create New Opportunities for Fraud

SAN JOSE, Calif.—[May 19, 2026]— As summer travel demand risesⁱ, new proprietary and consumer research from McAfee finds that increasing costs and time pressure are pushing consumers to take more risks when booking trips, creating new opportunities for scammers to take advantage of busy, on-the-go travelers. At the same time, McAfee Labs’ findings reveal that popular travel brands, like Tripadvisor, are being impersonated at scale, making it harder for consumers to tell what’s real from what’s fake. Together, these trends underscore the rising need for consumers to be extra diligent, and use tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector, to spot suspicious links, messages, and booking sites in order to keep themselves safe from travel scams.

Despite growing awareness of travel-related threats, people are still taking chances. McAfee’s research uncovers the following about travelers:

• 90% feel pressure to book quickly, creating opportunities for scammers to exploit urgency
• 38% have encountered a travel-related scam, and 41% of those lost money as a result.
• 33% admit they’ve ignored warning signs to avoid missing out on deals
• 41% of those who encountered a travel-related scam lost money
• 48% of those who lost money lost over $500, highlighting why tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector are becoming essential as scams mimic trusted travel brands.
• 41% trust messages that appear to come from airlines or hotels without verifying them

Research from the McAfee Labs team found that:

• Travel scams spread quickly by impersonating brands people already trust. Tripadvisor was the most commonly impersonated travel app, cloned at roughly three times the rate of other major platforms, including Kayak, Expedia, and Booking.com.
• In several cases, thousands of scam detections traced back to just a handful of fake apps, showing how fast a convincing scam can scale when travelers are rushing to book.

“The cost of travel is getting more expensive each yearⁱⁱ, and that’s changing how people make decisions,” said Abhishek Karnik, Head of Threat Research at McAfee. “When prices are high and availability feels tight, people will likely move faster. Scammers take advantage of that by impersonating the travel brands and messages consumers already trust. AI is making these scams faster to create, more convincing, and easier to scale. That’s why we built tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector to help people quickly spot suspicious links, messages, and booking sites before they click.”

McAfee’s latest consumer research shows how these risks show up across the entire journey, from booking to arrival, and why they’re easy to miss in the moment. The lists below highlight common scams and everyday habits that put travelers at risk.

5 Ways Rising Travel Costs Are Driving Risky Decisions

1. 9 in 10 travelers (90%) feel pressure to book quickly.
2. 1 in 3 (32%) would book a cheaper deal before verifying it’s legitimate.
3. 1 in 3 (33%) admit they’ve ignored warning signs to avoid missing out.
4. 4 in 10 (41%) trust messages that appear to come from airlines or hotels without verifying them.
5. 1 in 5 (20%) click travel-related links without first verifying the source.

8 Ways Travelers Put Themselves at Risk Without Realizing It

1. Using public Wi-Fi while traveling (63%).
2. Scanning QR codes while traveling (62%).
3. Using airport Wi-Fi (49%).
4. Trusting messages that appear to come from airlines or hotels without verifying them (41%).
5. Accessing financial apps on public Wi-Fi (22%).
6. Clicking travel-related links without verifying the source (20%).
7. Sharing travel plans or locations in real time (22%).
8. Using shared or public computers (15%).

7 Travel Scams Travelers Are Most Likely to Fall For

1. Fake travel deals or promotions (15%).
2. Scam booking confirmations and travel updates (15%).
3. Manipulated or misleading accommodation listings (15%).
4. Payment requests outside official platforms (11%).
5. Fake vacation rental listings (10%).
6. Fake airline or hotel websites (9%).
7. Impersonation of airline or hotel customer service (9%).

For travelers, this means scams are less about obvious red flags and more about timing and familiarity, with messages that arrive at the right moment and look like they come from a trusted source. That shift makes it harder to rely on instinct alone.

How Travelers Can Reduce Risk This Summer

• Use scam detection tools like McAfee’s Scam Detector to check links, messages, and QR codes before clicking
• Book directly through official airline, hotel, or travel platforms and use tools that help flag fake or lookalike booking sites
• Be cautious of deals that feel unusually urgent or discounted and doublecheck links or confirmations before acting
• Protect your connection on public Wi-Fi with a secure VPN

Methodology

A McAfee survey fielded in March 2026 focused on travel intentions within the next 12 months, travel scam experiences and perceptions as well as digital behaviors consumers partake in while traveling. These results represent a subset of 1,000 individuals over the age of 18 who reside in the United States. The total scope of this project consisted of responses from 6,000 Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the U.S. and the UK.

About McAfee

McAfee Corp. is a global leader in online protection for consumers. Focused on protecting people in an always-online world, McAfee’s solutions adapt to user needs, empowering individuals and families with secure, intuitive tools. For more information, visit www.mcafee.com.

ⁱ https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2026-releases/2026-04-29-04/
ⁱⁱ https://www.ustravel.org/research/travel-price-index