Business travelers are often targeted by fraudsters for travel scams. Click here for our business travel safety advice.
While it’s always important to be aware of your surroundings as a tourist, travel scams also target business travelers. In fact, thanks to high-limit corporate credit cards and mass bookings, business travelers are quite the lucrative target for scammers.
From international credit card fraud to flight scams, the key to avoiding these issues is learning how to recognize them. We’ve founded up the latest travel safety advice to help you spot red flags, in the office and overseas.
As criminals become increasingly sophisticated with online fraud, particularly with the use of AI in phishing scams, SMEs are frequent targets. In fact, a UK Finance study found that SMEs within the UK alone lost £59.2 million to fraud in 2021, up 35% from 2020. The survey also found that 80% of SMEs have received unsolicited requests for personal details and money.
Travel scams are also more common than you might think, especially when booking corporate travel online. According to a McAfee Corp study, 30% of adults surveyed reported either fallen victim themselves or knowing someone who had fallen victim to an online travel scam. The same research found that 14% made payments through fraudulent platforms, and 18% experienced identity fraud.
Scamming tricks run from simple to sophisticated. Business travelers might be caught out by phishing emails or fraudulent booking websites. A common trick is to make a spoof website that looks like a trusted platform, but with tiny changes to the URL.
Digital fraudsters are also skilled at creating invoices that look like they come from legitimate suppliers, including a recognizable company logo and registered office.
Some criminals may mimic a business travel agency representative, phoning your team to request payment details for an upcoming trip. However, your company’s travel policy should clearly outline the rules and budgets for business travel, including approved websites and platforms. By sticking to approved, trusted platforms like Booking.com for Business, you’ll be able to avoid these common phishing scams.
Here are a few tried-and-true tourist scams you may encounter as a business traveler, both online and off.
Apart from phishing emails requesting payment for international flights, a common type of flight scam preys on those booking last-minute travel. In this case, selling plane tickets to business travelers that have been purchased with stolen credit cards. When you arrive at the airport, you’ll then find out the booking has been cancelled.
How to avoid: Only purchase airline tickets through legitimate, trusted sites, either directly from the airline or a reputable platform like Booking.com for Business.
The internet is littered with fake websites designed to mimic legitimate hotel chains, travel agencies, and booking aggregators. They’ll look nearly identical to the authentic article, with only a small change to the URL. For example, the domain may be different, such as .net or .co rather than .com.
How to avoid: Always verify the URL, ensuring it’s secure with a padlock icon and HTTPS (not just HTTP). Read reviews online from third-party platforms like Google before booking.
When business travel agencies go bankrupt, fraudsters rush in and target their roster of corporate clients. The fraudsters will send out phishing emails requesting sensitive booking details and passwords. They may also call or text business travelers offering refunds for upcoming travel, if only you send your company’s bank information first and confirm associated account passwords.
How to avoid: Verify email addresses for inconsistencies, never open unsolicited links or attachments, and be wary of emails filled with grammatical errors. Always use dedicated business travel platforms such as Booking.com for Business with verified credentials and report any suspicious communications to your company’s IT department for follow-up.
As with fraudulent booking websites, some digital scammers target business travelers with sites claiming to issue official travel documents. These will spoof official government sources.
How to avoid: Visas and relevant travel documents will usually be arranged by your company’s corporate travel planning team, who will have the correct contact information. If you need to renew your own passport, look at the URL carefully to make sure you’re on a valid government website. You can also contact your embassy or visit the passport office in person to receive your documents.
According to recent surveys, one in six business travelers has fallen for credit card scams. International credit card fraud is rife, with card details exposed through non-secure hotels, restaurants, and other venues where you’re likely to use a corporate card.
How to avoid: Ask if your company provides single-use virtual cards. These are valid for a single reservation, preventing fraudulent use. Another option is to use secure payment apps and digital wallets that come with built-in digital security features. With international bank accounts through HSBC, Wise, or Revolut, your company can securely transfer money in the correct currency directly to a company travel card for business expenses.
If you’re offered a deal on a hotel room that seems too good to be true, it probably is. These types of scams targeting business travelers will request payment in advance for a block booking, only for you and your team to turn up and find out the listing doesn’t exist. Other hotel scams involve double booking a legitimate listing.
How to avoid: Only use trusted platforms like Booking.com for Business, and make sure that these offer some form of traveler protection. Be wary of listings without any reviews.
While unscrupulous taxi drivers will still take business travelers where they need to go, they’ll overcharge for your journey. Common signs of a taxi scam include lack of a meter, or a meter that seems to unpredictably jump in price.
How to avoid: Pre-book your company taxi through a reputable company and always ask for a receipt. If you can’t pre-book, look for taxi stands with official signage and check that the meter is working before you depart.
Don’t let scammers go unchecked. First, check your company’s travel policy to find out who to contact for help, whether it’s a dedicated travel coordinator or even the business owner.
Travel scams should also be reported to the police, and many countries have task forces specifically dedicated to tackling travel fraud.
For example:
Your company travel representative should be able to help with determining the best course of action and assist with filing all relevant reports.
Falling for scams is never a nice feeling, but it happens to even the savviest business traveler. Make sure you report it to your travel coordinator and the proper authorities as quickly as possible to protect your company’s financial information.
If you don’t have a team leader or travel coordinator accompanying you on the trip, check your travel policy to find emergency contact details. Let the company know what’s happened first.
Even for petty crime like a rip-off taxi scam, it’s worth filing a report with the local authorities to have it on record. This can often be done online. If you’re staying a business hotel, the concierge can help you file a report and speak to relevant local authorities.
If you’ve fallen for international credit card fraud or you suspect your company cards have been compromized online, get in touch with your company’s finance team. They can then contact the bank that holds the corporate account. Banks can also put additional security on your account to prevent unauthorized or suspicious transactions.
In most cases, banks will refund scammed money. However, this depends on the country your business is based in and its regulations. For example, in the UK the Payment Service Regulations 2009 require that banks refund money that has been taken, provided the transaction was unauthorized.
If you’ve paid the scammer directly and willingly with a corporate credit card, this makes getting a refund a little trickier. It will depend on the payment type, amount, and the bank’s own policies.
Many of the tourist scam red flags also apply to business travel scams. Proceed with caution if you experience any of the following situations:
Overall, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Avoiding scams starts before you go by only using company-approved booking platforms. Scam prevention also involves keeping the usual business cyber security tips in mind:
Stay aware of phishing attempts with fake emails designed to impersonate reputable business travel agencies – check and double-check those details. While antivirus products and fraud detection software catch many of these, some fall through the cracks.
Here are a few more points of business travel safety advice:
Credit card scams are on the rise, so it’s important to stick to approved company travel cards rather than using your personal credit card for expenses. Corporate credit cards come with industry-standard security including real-time transaction alerts, helping finance teams stay on top of red-flag card activity while you’re traveling.
Payment apps come with advanced encryption and AI-assisted fraud detection to keep financial data safe when paying for flights and hotels. Consider using digital wallets like Apple Pay to store company credit cards and boarding passes in a secure, virtual space where scammers won’t be able to access them.
An even better way to protect company card numbers from phishing attempts is to keep them restricted to a single, virtual use. Business travelers can use this virtual card for their trip, and once the approved travel ends, so does the card.
Companies can even restrict purchases to certain spend types and merchant categories. That means fraudsters won’t have the chance to use the company payment information for anything other than approved expenses.
Traveling for business means you’ll sometimes need to log into your company devices from a public area. Follow all usual business travel safety advice, including those pertaining to online security. If you’re conducting business in public airport lounges or hotel lobbies, always use a private network rather than public Wi-Fi. For added safety, use a screen protector to shield your data from nearby lurkers.
Company travel planners make it their business to assess risk. If your company has a dedicated travel arranger, ask about common tourist scams at the destination so you can be prepared. Remember that businesses carry responsibility for traveling employees, so don’t be afraid to ask for support when you need it. Before embarking on your journey, browse your company’s travel policy first. This should clearly list:
Keep a digital copy of this handy so you can access it for assistance on the road.
One of the primary ways to avoid travel scams is by using a trusted, reputable booking platform. Booking.com for Business is an all-in-one business travel tool that lets you manage business travel hotels, flights, and corporate car rental.
Using multiple agents and websites for booking business travel increases your chances of fraudulent bookings. By centralizing this planning in a single system for easier monitoring, you can better manage each aspect of business travel – and stay safe from scammers.
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