Don't let your holiday get ruined by someone on Santa's naughty list.
TravAlliancemedia President and CEO Mark Murphy joined Fox and Friends on the Fox News Network to let their viewers (and you) know how best to avoid travel scams this holiday season.
Among the biggest issues, Murphy says, is renting vacation homes and not getting what you paid for.
"No. 1," Murphy says, "if someone asks you to wire money - if you're doing a vacation rental home - don't wire money. Use a service like Airbnb or other services where they actually escrow the money and they don't release it to the host until 24 hours after you check in. So, you know you're going to get what you're paying for."
Imagine getting to your dream holiday with the family and having the amazing home you saw online be something completely different. Murphy mentions homes in different locations from what was advertised as well as homes that are nowhere up to snuff from what the pictures showed.
Alongside Airbnb, Murphy also namechecked VaycayHero.com and OneFineStay.com as professional sites travelers can trust.
Once you get to the destination, however, vigilance is still the name of the game.
A simple, everyday act like logging onto the wifi could create a new year of nightmares as any two-bit hacker on an unsecured connection could find your photos, music, personal information and even credit card details. No one wants to make "get my financial life back" their resolution for 2017!
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To combat hackers, Murphy never goes anywhere without his hub from Wireless Traveler. It's a tiny device that offers a huge boost of confidence, as personal data remains safe no matter where you go on the globe. Travelers can also check with their own mobile service providers who are likely to have similar products.
Finally, anyone heading overseas needs to be away of exchange rate scams which can often take the form of "helpful" offers to charge an American credit card in U.S. Dollars.
"The problem is," Murphy says, "They give a really bad exchange rate, which is usually five-to-seven percent different versus the actual exchange rate. So, use a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees and that can add another two or three percent. So, you could lose 10 percent off of your purchasing power!"
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