A third (34%) of holidaymakers have seen an increase in potentially fraudulent travel content on social media over the last 12 months, according to new research from global payment service provider, emerchantpay. With fraudsters embracing new technologies, such as AI, scams are becoming more convincing – during the peak travel season, Brits could see themselves increasing targeting by fraud attempts. Recent McAfee research finds more than one in three (38%) travellers have encountered a travel-related scam*, with fraudulent tactics including phishing attacks and the use of AI to direct consumers to illegitimate booking sites, impersonate travel brands or manipulate online reviews. Meanwhile, more than half (56%) of people feel AI is making scams harder to identify.** As a result, consumers are exercising more caution when booking holidays. Seven in ten (70%) consumers say they are wary of promotional emails related to holidays due to concerns about potential scams, and half (50%) prefer to book holidays with online or high street travel businesses if they clearly explain how they are protecting consumers from fraud. Consumers are safeguarding themselves where possible, with 68% believing credit cards are the safest way to pay for bookings or spend while abroad. Four in ten (40%) travellers report that they change their behaviour while on holiday due to financial safety concerns, and the same proportion worry about taking payment cards abroad in case they are lost or stolen. Fraud in general is on the rise – the latest UK Finance figures show that criminals stole £1.28 billion through payment fraud in 2025, with Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud losses up 19% to £576.4 million. Businesses must ensure they are offering consumers secure payment options to protect them from financial fraud and maintain customer trust. George Ralchev, Head of Risk at emerchantpay, comments: “Instead of looking forward to switching for a much-needed break holidaymakers are increasingly targeted by social media scammers looking to take advantage of the peak travel season. “Millions of Brits are seeing their social media feeds flooded with potential scams and offers that unfortunately really are ‘too good to be true’, concerns around fraud are driving a shift in consumer behaviour as travellers look to protect themselves when booking a trip or holidaying abroad. emerchantpay is a global payment service provider (PSP) and acquirer empowering merchants through simplified and effective payments processing to deliver faster, smarter and safer payments. NoYesFraud Detection29 Jun, 2026