Travel Tips

Travel Tip: What You Should Know About Phone Travel Scams

phone3We’ve all heard about the growth of phone scams, but nowhere is that more prevalent than in the world of travel.

Twice in the last two weeks, I’ve received a call that I won a free cruise, and that all I had to do was press the number one on my phone.

For giggles I did it, and two things happened.

One, I was told the cruise was free, but they had to process my airfare. That airfare—for two, of course—came to more than $2000.

So much for a free cruise.

Even worse, I learned that when I pressed the number one, it indicated I was at a working number, so I received more phone calls with other hotel and timeshare scams.

The first number was displayed on my phone, so I was able to register it on a number of applications, like Truecaller, PrivacyStar, or Hiya, which work well to detect scam calls.

As for the more difficult unknown numbers— I just didn’t answer.

I let them go to voicemail.

For more information about travel scams, check out:

Keep reading for more travel tips.