Vacay-check: Don't advertise travel plans on FB, be cautious with public WiFi

There is so much effort one puts into planning the perfect vacation. Dates and leave have to be aligned, and bookings to be made. But despite the best efforts one puts in, holiday plans could still be upended by mishaps. “Around 30 per cent of holiday fraud victims were scammed after spotting a great offer which turned out to be too good to be true,” says a report published by McAfee and HomeAway.

The survey found that one in two victims of fraud realised their folly after arriving at the holiday rental. While phishing e-mails remain the most commonly deployed tool to dupe vacationers, insecure network connections also pose an equal threat.

The urge to advertise one’s travels on social media could be counter-productive, the report warns, urging people to be cautious while using WiFi at shared spaces like hostels and cafes. And if one is on such a public WiFi server, one must avoid risking sensitive information like passwords and credit card details. “On holiday, 61 per cent people never use a virtual private network (VPN), and 22 per cent don’t even know what a VPN is,” the report said.