5 summer scams to watch out for this year
Feedzai, one of Europe’s 20 most valuable AI startups and a leader in AI-based financial crime prevention, identifies the most common summer scams
According to Santander UK, holiday-related scams cost its customers £42,773 between April and June 2026. The holiday season has already begun, a season in which consumer behaviour is significantly changing, creating opportunities for fraudsters to leverage the pressure around sold-out events, flights and rentals prices.
Fraudsters rely on the disruptions of our daily routines and the FOMO (fear of missing out) we might feel during this period to make more victims. Urgency, human emotions and daily distractions provide the perfect conditions for fraudsters and their new nearly professional methods.
The use of generative AI makes scams harder to spot. Criminal networks now use sophisticated methods to produce convincing phishing emails,fake booking websites and more, targeting the customer’s journey throughout. Vacationers must therefore be on the lookout every step of the way, and watch out for the 5 most common summer vacations scams.
- Vacation rental fraud: Travelers are lured toward the “too-good-to-be-true” deals they can encounter on social media or mirrored websites advertising fake properties.
- Fake flight booking sites: Lookalike travel agency websites are set up during the summer especially for last-minute flights and deals.
- Fake road toll text messages: After crossing state lines or venturing into unfamiliar toll networks, people might receive fake text messages regarding unpaid toll road violation with threatening late fees if not clicking on a link to pay.
- Party invitation: Receiving a text or email from a lookalike digital invitation platform often coming from a compromised email account, especially during seasonal events.
- Ticket scams: Summer events increase the demand for tickets, creating opportunities for scammers to sell duplicate or fake tickets while pushing victims to use unprotected payments apps.
Although these scams are varied they all rely on the same aspects: urgency and distractions. To avoid getting scammed, consumers should take the time to verify urls, messages that ask for rushed payments or offers that seem too good to be true.
“While summer is the perfect time to unwind and explore, it’s also when we must all keep our guards up. Fraudsters create professional-grade copy, perfect lookalike websites, and even automated, personalized texting campaigns like fake toll warnings. The scams can feel completely genuine and easily deceive even tech-savvy consumers. Staying mindful of these seasonal red flags can help us focus on the summer reading list instead of the summer scam list.” – Lenny Gusel, Head of Fraud Solutions for Feedzai
