Don't get fooled by THESE 4 holiday season frauds: From fake wedding invites to travel booking scams

The year is about to end, and people have already begun planning their travel and accommodations and making other vacation arrangements for the holiday season. This time of year is also perfect for fraudsters to trick people and earn money.

During the holiday season, which coincides with the wedding season in India, people look to gather with family and friends, make memories, and enjoy time either at home or by travelling. 

Here are the top five scams that can ruin your holidays:

Social Media Scams

People who often blindly trust any platform for discounts, schemes, and offers on travel and hotel bookings are prone to social media scams. According to Morgan Stanley, people often see promotions or contests on social media sites offering gift cards or vouchers in exchange for online surveys.

However, many surveys merely capture personal information to commit identity fraud or other types of cybercrime. Hence, people must be cautious and visit only trusted websites during the holiday season.

Travel scam

People planning a trip with their friends and family this holiday season must verify twice while booking hotels online. At times, people end up paying for a fake hotel or a fake tour operator.

People can also find hotel details and their stays on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. In that case, they must make sure to cross verify these properties details on their official website and check for reviews.

Wedding invitation card on WhatsApp

During the ongoing wedding season, it is common for people to send and receive wedding invitation cards online. In most cases, these invites are sent in a PDF format. WhatsApp users must be very careful while opening a wedding card they have received from an unknown number, as doing so may lead to giving access to malware in the device.

Cautioning people about e-wedding invitation scams, the Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau wrote in a post on X, “This wedding season, scammers are sending malicious APKs on WhatsApp, disguised as wedding invitations. Once opened, malware installs on your device, compromising your bank account.”

OTP scam

Those who order items online frequently often become targets of scammers. At times, fraudsters tend to check on customers who receive delivery packages very often and disguise themselves as delivery agents at the customers' doorsteps to ask for the OTP. Furthermore, they ask for the order amount, stating it was cash on delivery.

When the customer refuses to receive the order, they ask for an OTP on their phone in the name of order cancellation, reported Mint earlier. Giving OTP without carefully reading the message may lead to online theft and other scams.