A June 2025 report attributed to Mastercard Economic Institute names Cancun, Hanoi, Dhaka and Bangkok among destinations with relatively higher levels of travel-related fraud. It does not rank cities by absolute fraud rates or estimate an individual traveler’s odds. Its examples are useful for spotting the kinds of booking scams reported—not for judging a destination’s overall safety.
What the Mastercard-reported comparison says about destinations
A June 3, 2025 Travel + Leisure article syndicated by AOL says Mastercard Economic Institute analyzed aggregated, anonymized Mastercard transaction data. It identifies the following cities as relative examples, while explicitly cautioning: “This is a relative comparison, not a ranking of cities with the highest or lowest fraud rates.” Read the June 3, 2025 article.
| Relative grouping in the article | Destinations named |
|---|---|
| Relatively higher travel-related fraud levels | Cancun, Mexico; Hanoi, Vietnam; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Bangkok, Thailand |
| Relatively lower travel-related fraud levels | San Francisco; Dublin; Seoul; Budapest; Edinburgh |
The article does not provide the study period, definitions of fraud, geographic sample, denominators, or rules for selecting these examples. Nor does it establish whether the comparisons adjust for transaction volume or represent travelers who use other payment methods. So the cities should not be read as an up-to-date leaderboard, an estimate of your personal risk, or a measure of street crime.
Which travel scams the article highlights
The article describes several types of travel-related fraud and gives city examples. The percentages below are figures attributed to Mastercard Economic Institute by the 2025 article. They are shares of the city travel-related scams in the relevant category—not a traveler’s probability of encountering that scam. The underlying denominators and study definitions are not stated.
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Fake travel agencies and sightseeing tours
The report’s examples assign 70% of city travel-related scams in Hong Kong to travel agencies and sightseeing tours, 64% in Barcelona and Delhi, 49% in Singapore, and 48% in Cancun. Across this category, the article says reported fraud incidence was more than four times the global average. The source does not specify the measurement period or provide enough detail to infer an absolute rate.
Scams can involve false offers, manipulated destination photos, or fake confirmation links. A tour bought through a fraudulent operator might never happen or might be substantially different from what was promised. The article advises caution with unusually low prices and operators that insist on prepayment.
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Taxi and car-rental schemes
For taxi and car-rental fraud, the article reports shares of city travel-related scams of 66% in Jakarta, 48% in Bangkok, and 34% in London. These are the article’s 2025 figures, not current rates or comparative odds for an individual visitor.
Fraudulent accommodation bookings
The article names Phuket, at 39%, and Antalya, at 35%, for accommodation-booking fraud as a share of city travel-related scams. It describes fake rental listings that may advertise a property that does not exist or one that differs substantially from its listing.
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How to interpret the reported increases
The 2025 article also attributes several trend figures to Mastercard Economic Institute: an 18% increase in fraud reports at popular destinations during peak summer travel, an increase of more than 28% at cold-weather destinations during winter travel, and a 12% year-over-year increase in fraud associated with early-stage trip planning in 2024.
Those figures describe reported changes as presented in the article; it does not provide the underlying time periods, baselines, definitions, or denominators needed to translate them into a traveler’s chance of being defrauded. Seasonal increases in reports also do not, by themselves, establish that a particular city is riskier than another.
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Booking red flags to watch for
- An implausibly low price: The article cautions that enticingly cheap tour offers can be fraudulent.
- Pressure to pay upfront: Think carefully before prepaying an unfamiliar tour operator, particularly when the offer is unusually attractive.
- Untrusted photos or confirmation links: Fraudulent offers may use manipulated destination images or fake links that appear to confirm a booking.
- A listing that may not match reality: An accommodation ad can describe a nonexistent property or misrepresent what is available.
These are warning signs described in the article, not a complete fraud-prevention checklist or a guarantee that any particular booking is legitimate.
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