Scams are part and parcel of life now, and they come in all forms. Even vacations aren’t let off the hook, as a recent survey by cybersecurity company McAfee found. The results, which were released yesterday, showed that more than one in four Singaporeans (29 percent) have been scammed or nearly scammed by online holiday bookings.
Out of the 500 adults in Singapore polled, about 23 percent of the scam victims said they only realized the website or reservation method used was fraudulent when they showed up at their holiday rental and were told their booking was not valid. Meanwhile, 34 percent of victims admitted they were scammed by a seemingly enticing offer that turned out to be fake. However, 23 percent of those surveyed also said they do not verify the authenticity of a site before making their booking.
Almost half of the victims reported that they lost anywhere between S$1,000 to S$7,000 from such scams.
According to the survey, the top holiday destination for Singaporeans that hackers typically target with potentially malicious sites is Taipei, followed by London, Bali, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Kyoto.
McAfee said such sites could be used to install malware and steal personal information. Hackers could also send malicious links via texts, emails, and pop-up ads.
The firm advised holidaymakers to authenticate booking sites and practice safe surfing on holiday, after finding that 80 percent used public Wi-Fi in the hotel to check their work devices or email, and 63 percent did so in the airport, potentially putting sensitive business information at risk.
Tips for better cyber security include only clicking on websites that your security software has authorized as safe, making all payments through a trusted platform, and keeping your connection to public Wi-Fi secure with a virtual private network (VPN).
