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Spammers are looking to take advantage of those seeking a much-needed break, sending out phishing emails that appear to be from travel companies.
The recent Bitdefender Antispam Lab findings show that the global travel and hospitality industry will be a significant target for cybercriminals in 2023, with the growth of tourism expected to increase by 30 per cent this year.
The most recent Bitdefender Antispam Lab telemetry shows notable travel-themed spam campaigns that target people without their knowledge and attempt to steal their data and money. The company’s researchers discovered these campaigns on December 20, 2022, and they persisted throughout the holiday season.
According to the company’s analysis, “English-speaking receivers were specifically targeted by spammers’ travel-themed baits, with 53 per cent of the mail going to US inboxes.”
Germany follows the US (4 per cent), the UK (5 per cent), South Africa (5 per cent), India (per cent), Ireland (10 per cent), and India (6 per cent). The flood of spam emails also affected other European countries like France, Sweden, Denmark, and Italy.
Only 40% of the spam emails with a travel theme received during 30 days were commercial ploys,” Bitdefender Labs researchers said.
The remaining 60% were classified as frauds, some of which utilised popular airline names to obtain users’ private information and loyalty or travel reward accounts: Southwest Airlines, Ryanair, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and American Airlines.
Bitdefender Antispam Lab said that travel rewards programs and gift cards are among the most exploited subjects:
- Congratulations! A United Airlines reward has arrived!
- Congrats! You have received a Southwest Airlines reward
- Shopper, You can qualify for a $90 American Airlines gift card!
- Confirmed Your American Airlines Reward
Cybercriminals are very interested in airline loyalty programs because they contain a range of personally identifiable information on travellers and airline points that can be sold on the dark web.
The bottom line is that travelers need to be aware of the potential threats they may face in 2023 and be vigilant when protecting their data.
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