Everything has a peak season, and just like heirloom tomatoes, identity theft seems to ripen during the summer. While identity thieves prey on people every day of the year, summer creates an environment in which victims are more susceptible to a number of scams.
Below, PeopleFinders breaks down why particular scam attacks increase during the summer, how they happen, how to protect yourself from them, and what to do if you find out someone has stolen your identity.
The Summer Vulnerability Gap: Why Identity Thieves Don't Take Vacations
Summer is a time for rest and relaxation—vacations, traveling somewhere new, or just sitting by the neighborhood pool and working on your tan. However, it also presents prime opportunities for identity thieves to hatch some of their tried-and-true schemes.
Vacation travelers, for instance, are an attractive target for many scammers and fraudsters. Most vacation revelers tend to swipe their cards left and right, enter their credentials for online reservations, and rarely check their bank accounts. These actions create ripe conditions for successful identity theft schemes.
Before proceeding to summer's most common scams, it's worthwhile to cover imposters. Imposter scams involve scammers posing as authority figures, customer service representatives, or otherwise trustworthy people and cover a wide range of illegal schemes.
It's been steadily rising since 2020, and it cost Americans $3.5 billion in 2025. Many of the following schemes fall into the imposter scam category, which increases by around 144 percent in the summer.
Summer Safety Power Rankings: Top 5 High-Risk Scenarios
1. Package Delivery Scams
Package delivery scams are a type of imposter scam in which malicious actors impersonate shipping company employees. They send you a text about a package that couldn't be delivered, and you think, "Uh oh, what if we don't get those cool Bluey swim floaties in time for the beach trip?"
Panicked, you enter your information on the web page linked in the shipper's message. It happens to plenty of consumers each year and even spikes 89% during the summer months.
2. Fraudulent Travel Deals
If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. A free cruise to the Bahamas sounds incredible, but companies simply don't give them to people who never entered any contests in the first place.
In the case of travel deals and cheap accommodation, it's almost always a way to steal credit card information. Scammers/imposters often send emails and text messages that contain links to legitimate-looking websites. Once victims enter their sensitive personal information, bad actors leverage those credentials to extract as much money as possible.
3. Public USB Charging Stations (Juice Jacking)
Some identity thieves weaponize public charging stations that use USB cables to either transmit personal and financial data from the victim's phone to a skimming device in the port or install malware on the phone to spy on them.
As people still need to charge their phones during vacations, they're often forced to plug their phones into USB ports they've never used before. These unfamiliar—and unvetted—ports are often highly accessible to scammers intent on juice jacking unsuspecting victims.
4. Ticket Scams
Summer is the season of big-name festivals and concerts that sell out quickly, relegating many ticket sales to the second-hand market. Unfortunately, that's where many scammers make their dough.
Fake ads for supposedly available concert tickets are a common way of obtaining victims' credit card information. Scammers often request payment via wire transfers, cryptocurrency, and other applications with weaker fraud protections. These imposters then disappear into thin air.
5. Unsecured Wi-Fi Networks
Lastly, public Wi-Fi networks are extremely easy for hackers to intercept and siphon off critical information shared by the victims. They can sometimes obtain bank account login credentials, Social Security numbers, and other personal details by intercepting the right internet traffic.
In other instances, scammers spoof the names of trusted Wi-Fi networks. Instead of getting on the airport Starbucks' free internet, for example, you can unwittingly stumble onto a fraudster's meticulously crafted network. From there, they can monitor your every move on search engines and other websites.
Staying Ahead: A Proactive Summer Security Checklist
Identity theft isn't an inevitability. You can enjoy a summer with much fewer risks if you make sure to follow the following tips:
- Download a VPN to reroute your data so it's not visible to hackers, even when you use lower security networks.
- Keep your devices up to date with security patches from the manufacturer. Devices with older security protocols are more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for all your log-ins. It creates a barrier that protects your account, and you'll notice any suspicious activity once you receive a text message providing a one-time password (OTP) you didn't request.
- Do an end-of-summer audit for bank statements and credit reports, and flag any small transactions you don't remember making. These are usually tests done by identity thieves and could signal that your account is a target.
Am I Dealing with a Scammer? Steps to Secure Your Information
If you suspect encountering a potential scam, here are some actions you could take to minimize the risk:
1. Find and Report the Scammer
Since recent Experian data show that more victims report being contacted by email than by any other method, you can use a tool to reverse email search any suspicious person contacting you. Once you have their information, proceed to report them to your local police department, as well as their PD if they're out of state.
2. Report Your Stolen Identity to the Federal Trade Commission
Use identitytheft.gov, the FTC's dedicated website to report identity fraud, to report the incident. There, you'll find information to help mitigate the losses and protect you from further damage.
3. Contact a Credit Bureau to Freeze Your Credit
If the scammer got hold of your financial information, contact one of the three credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on your credit report until the issue is resolved. The bureau you contact is obligated to report to the other two.
- Equifax: 800-525-6285
- Experian: 888-397-3742
- TransUnion: 800-680-7289
Even though there's a higher chance of encountering scams during the summer, you can still have a great time while doing your due diligence to protect your identity. Just remember to be careful who you share your information with, implement a few cybersecurity measures, and track any unusual communication you receive.
This story was produced by PeopleFinders and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
