As global travel continues to rebound, unfortunately so do the tactics of pesky scammers looking to trick tourists out of their hard earned money.

And with evolving technology by their side, I hate to admit they’re actually getting better at this… making it tougher than ever to spot fraud before it’s too late. From AI-generated images to phishing scams hidden in plain sight, some of the latest scams can catch even the most seasoned travelers off guard.

But not you! Because you’re here. And as someone who loves to panic a lot, I get to hypocritically say: “no need to panic!” because staying informed is your best defense.

SO, in this guide, I’ll be sharing the worst new travel scams to be aware of in 2025, because in a world of AI, scammers are getting craftier than ever…! Though luckily, not as crafty as you. Scroll on for all the top scams to keep an eye out for.

1. AI-generated images

If you’ve been on social media you’ll have no doubt seen AI images before- usually bursting with an alarming number of comments and likes because people can’t actually tell they’re fake.

… Which of course leads them to believe in all sorts of weird things, like fake birthday cakes, weirdly elaborate sand sculptures, and (to the woe of many travellers) bucket list places that literally do not exist.

Unfortunately, these AI images do get better and more realistic everyday but for now some obvious signs to look for are…

• Unnatural colours that are too vibrant or saturated 
• Small details that don’t look quite right (e.g. I always find AI struggles with hands and text)
• Overly smooth textures (e.g. finer textures like pores, which makes people look airbrushed)
• And just overall if it looks too perfect, that’s probably not a good sign 

Ultimately, you might be thinking “okay, what’s the harm in your great aunt thinking this random couple is really celebrating their anniversary?” or that this weirdly handsome 108 year old actually baked his own birthday cake all alone? Well there are many instances where AI imagery gets more dangerous and that’s our next scam…

2. Fake travel links and ads

Unfortunately, there have also been several reports of people using AI to generate imagery advertising hotels or travel experiences, which of course gives you unfair and unrealistic expectations of what the experience will be like… if it even exists.

But even worse is when those images are used to create scammy posts that might entice you into clicking, then lure you into giving your information through a fake giveaway, for instance. In worse cases, you’ll be taken through a fake website that’s designed to look like a real one so you think you’re booking that hotel or experience, but you’re really giving your credit card information to fraudsters.

So before you just click through anything you see on social media, whether that’s an ad or just a post that someone has made, especially when it asks you for information of any kind, here are some red flags to look out for:

• Anything that’s too good to be true, whether that’s a deal or a giveaway of some kind
• Any sense of urgency, like you need to act right now or the offer goes away 
• Suspicious things in the URL like random numbers or typos 
• If it asks for payment via untraceable methods like gift cards or cash apps. Remember – with credit cards you can at least file a chargeback or get help, so scammers will often prefer another method 

And always, always, always cross reference whatever you’re looking at with another source, so if it claims to be a flight giveaway from United, Google “United Flight Giveaway” with the details you found. If it’s not on the company’s official website, odds are it’s not legitimate. And most of the time, these scams are so widespread that it’s possible many people have already discussed it online already.

3. Phishing scams

Phishing is one of the most common categories of scams that dupes hundreds of thousands of victims every year. This is where messages are sent claiming to be from a legitimate source, whether that’s your bank, your airline or your hotel, and then through these fake communications, they steal your information, payment methods, etc.

There are many scams that fall under this umbrella, but something that has become all too common lately is text and email phishing scams.

Unfortunately, there are scoundrels out there (side-eying every tech billionaire) selling our contact details and data, so odds are you will be getting texts or emails at some point pretending to be a company, with their goal being to lure you to their fake website, then enter your login details or payment details.

So to avoid falling for scams like these, always pay attention to the details, like…

• Is the URL yourbank.com or is it something a bit different?
• Is the email from the official website of that company or is it a weird Gmail?
• And ultimately: always, always question when people try to ask you for details, even stuff that’s as innocent as your birthday.

Now, phishing scams have been around forever and most of the time, they can be easy to spot if you know what to look for, but in the world of travel, a very sophisticated phishing scam has been taking place in the past year or so that looks SO legitimate, even seasoned travellers have been falling for it.

And in these instances, it’ll actually come from an official email and platform so you don’t think to second guess it… because the hotel themselves have been hacked, and the hackers have gained access to their official Hotels.com/Booking.com accounts. This allows them to contact you through the actual booking platform they use, which makes the conversation look legitimate.

Often, they’ll say something like, “Your hotel booking didn’t go through, the credit card details weren’t right and you need to reconfirm the details right now or you’ll lose the booking”. Then, when you enter the details through a new link, they’ll take your payment details and run.

So be super, super careful when messages involve re-entering any form of payment details on another page and when in doubt, always call the hotel to double check. 

4. Fake Airbnb listings

Another accommodation scam I’ve heard of involves apartment rentals and hosts offering a better deal if you take it off the platform and book with them “directly”. And this is especially common on everyone’s favourite rental platform to hate, Airbnb.

Now it has to be said: there are many issues that can arise with Airbnb, like fake listings for one. In fact, Airbnb reported in 2023 that they removed almost 60,000 fake listings in just that one year. But I guess it’s good they’re removing them. 

Another new-ish scam that has popped up though, is that sometimes hosts will try to convince you to book separately off the platform, promising a better rate. This isn’t always a scam – after all, direct bookings are almost always the cheapest option, so if they’re linking to their own hotel website or something, this might be fine…

But if they ask to do it in an untraceable way, like in cash or through a cash app, then it’s helpful to remember that staying on the platform gives you an extra layer of protection just in case something goes wrong, so it’s better to err on the side of caution. 

And always vet reviews before booking. Booking anything with no reviews is always a huge risk. 

5. Fake AI-generated reviews

Now that said, even reviews aren’t foolproof anymore. Because yes, AI-generated reviews are now a prevalent thing.

Of course, businesses buying fake reviews is not a new thing, this has been going on for a long time but previously, fake reviews were pretty easy to spot. They’d be one line, no profile picture, no details. But with the rise of AI, creating more authentic looking reviews has become much easier in bulk. 

So vetting reviews, whether that’s for a restaurant, an airline, or a product, now requires more care than ever.

Here are some red flags to look out for in fake reviews:

• First, if the review is very generic and surface level, not super specific to that person’s own experience, that could be a sign that it’s not a real review 
• Second, look out for unnatural patterns of speech, like if they keep repeating the product or service name an unnecessary amount of times 
• And if you see a bunch of reviews that seem to repeat similar things or follow a similar structure or format, odds are these might be mass AI generated reviews purchased in bulk 

Now if you want to go into full detective mode, which I sometimes do because I’m petty, then you can even start reviewing the reviewers by clicking over to their profiles to see what their other reviews are like. If it’s a bunch of reviews in the same format, then you know you’re probably not dealing with a real person. 

6. QR code scams

QR codes are these black/white grid codes you see everywhere now, and the concept is simple – you scan the code with your phone camera and it’ll trigger an action of some kind, usually taking you to a specific page, which saves you time from manually typing in the URL.

QR codes can also sometimes do things like open up an email, call a certain phone number, or trigger an app download.

In any case, what crafty scammers are now starting to do is place QR codes out there in the wild that lead to fake websites aimed at stealing your information. So let’s say you’re at a parking lot, you scan a QR code expecting to pay, then it’ll lead to a fake website where you enter payment details and boom, they now have your information.

Luckily, this scam can be thwarted by simply doing some checks before you enter any sensitive information.

As with some of the previous scams, make sure you double check the link – if it looks suspicious in any way or weirdly spelled, then maybe try to find a different way to pay.

Another potential issue with scanning QR codes is the link might invite you to download something that can then lead to malware being installed on your phone. This is why it’s important to never ever download a random thing without fully knowing what it is, and certainly not if it just pops up.

But before you freak out and not trust any QR codes at all – the thing to keep in mind here is that QR codes themselves are nothing to fear – they’re just a tool and shortcut that triggers an action, most commonly bringing you to a website quickly. 

If the website itself is a scam though, then that’s where you find trouble… so don’t just automatically assume everything you scan through a QR code is fine, much like how you can’t trust every website link you find on the internet. 

7. Juice Jacking

Juice jacking is a scary new-ish scam that has been making the rounds in the media lately because it is something that you’ll encounter practically every trip, possibly everyday and is something so harmless you really don’t think to question it.

It’s often achieved through the USB charging points that are commonplace now in airports, hotels and all over the place.

Even the FBI have issued warnings about this, saying “Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead.” 

I always carry a portable charger with me anyway, so this is something I’ll continue to do out of convenience. But it has to be said: the safety threats from juice jacking seem to be largely overblown.

Based on the research I’ve done, it seems like there are no actual reported instances of juice-jacking actually happening out in the wild. And these days many phones like iPhone have safety mechanisms in place that prevent them from sharing data with an unknown source. This is why sometimes when you plug your phone into a laptop or something, it’ll ask “do you trust this device” because they want to verify that you’re comfortable sharing your data with this device you’re connecting to. 

So if that message doesn’t pop up, odds are there is no data being transferred, just a charge.

I suppose it is good practice to not just unquestioningly plug your phone into random USB ports, but do know that the likelihood of someone managing to steal your information or infect your phone with malware just by you plugging it in is not as high as the media would have you believe. 

Did I miss any recent scams that you’ve encountered?

Let me know in the comments so I can add more to the list. Happy and safe travels! 🙂