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Costa Rica’s fraud problem is moving fast online, and travel is one of the clearest targets. What used to look like isolated scams now forms part of a wider pattern built around fake booking platforms, cloned websites, false promotions, and digital payment traps aimed at residents and tourists alike.
The scale of the broader problem keeps rising as Costa Rica recorded 10,027 online fraud cases in 2025, up 41% from the previous year, while losses tied to cyber fraud reached about ₡6 billion. Investigators have also warned that cloned websites remain one of the most common tools used to steal personal and banking data, often by copying the look of legitimate institutions and changing only a few letters in a web address.
In one recent case, judicial authorities dismantled a fake travel agency that changed names and locations every two months while selling nonexistent vacation packages. The group allegedly stole ¢165 million from 112 victims and used card details collected during the booking process to make much larger charges. Another pattern flagged in Costa Rica involves bogus vacation packages and “facilitator” companies that push people into loans they never knowingly approved, leaving them with debt and no trip.
Tourists remain exposed in more direct ways too. Costa Rican authorities have warned about vacation rental scams, especially around holiday periods, with cases involving fake accommodations, overpriced transport offers, and misleading deals aimed at travelers arriving near Juan Santamaría airport and bus terminals. The same logic driving those scams now appears online more often, where a polished site, a copied logo, or a fake confirmation page can make a nonexistent service look real long enough to collect payment.
The payment side of the problem is growing just as quickly. Costa Rica’s instant transfer system has become a common target, especially through schemes that exploit mobile numbers still linked to bank accounts. Reports tied to that tactic rose about 88% from the same period a year earlier, with reported losses nearing ₡3 billion. The response has already pushed telecom and banking systems to tighten controls, including real time reporting when inactive phone numbers should be detached from SINPE-linked accounts.
For travelers as well as residents living here, the lesson is no longer limited to avoiding suspicious street deals. The bigger risk now may be a fake hotel page, a cloned payment portal, or a booking link that looks almost right.
In Costa Rica’s current fraud landscape, verifying the platform before entering card details or sending a transfer has become part of basic travel planning. Typing the official address directly, checking domain names carefully, and avoiding payment links sent through ads, messages, or search results can make the difference between a confirmed reservation and a missing payment
