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New Data Indicates Surge in Fraudulent Travel Sites Ahead of Vacation Season
According to recent findings, DNSFilter has reported a significant increase in fraudulent travel websites as the summer vacation season approaches. The study indicates that cybercriminals are exploiting the trend of increased online travel planning to trick users into harmful actions such as clicking on phishing links.
Rise in Fraudulent Activity
The research team at DNSFilter discovered that from January to March, cybercriminals started using travel-related terms like “vacation,” “travel,” and “all-inclusive” to trap users searching for vacation deals. Typically, DNSFilter’s network traffic to travel sites escalates annually from January to May, which coincides with an increased number of attempted scams.
Key Insights from DNSFilter’s Data
Analyzing data from their platform, DNSFilter revealed several crucial insights:
1. Traffic to malicious sites containing the term “travel” peaks between May and June each year. The highest peak recorded was on May 8, 2024, with an increase of 256% over the average traffic from 2023 to April 2025.
2. Domains with the term “vacation” are blocked more frequently during the summer. The highest blockage rate was on June 12, 2024, with 3.46% of all traffic to these domains being blocked. The frequency of blocking such domains has increased as we approach the summer of 2025.
3. April 2025 saw the most significant spike in traffic to malicious sites with travel-related terms, with an increase of 116% over the average traffic since 2023.
4. Traffic to harmful sites with “travel” in their domain name was 235% higher between May and July 2024 than the overall average between 2023 and April 2025.
5. Fraudsters often use airline and location names to deceive users. Common terms used in fraudulent sites masquerading as legitimate travel sites include “Delta”, “Spirit”, “beach”, “package”, “tour”, and “Mexico.”
Advice for Consumers
As summer approaches, DNSFilter anticipates further traffic to malicious sites using travel and vacation terms. Consumers are advised to be vigilant while accessing websites offering deals that seem too good to be true, as spelling errors can often indicate a fraudulent site. It is recommended to use only trusted, legitimate travel sites and avoid clicking on suspicious links. Users should also regularly update their filtering policies to block new domains, phishing, malware, and deceptive sites, protecting themselves against potential threats.
In light of these findings, Ken Carnesi, CEO and co-founder of DNSFilter, stated, “This is the time of year that people start making summer travel plans and unfortunately, it’s also when bad actors try to rip them off. Our threat filtering platform identifies and blocks access to unwanted or malicious sites by finding and categorizing threats and harmful sites before a connection is made. We will continue to educate and defend our customers, creating a more secure online experience both before peak travel season and throughout the year.”
