As Singaporeans plan trips to China ahead of the year-end holidays, Kaspersky is warning travellers to stay alert to a wide range of cyberthreats, after its researchers recorded tens of millions of threat detections targeting users in the country over the past year.
Millions of threat detections in China
According to Kaspersky data, users in China encountered 47,098,006 general web threat detections, 7,272,111 password stealer detections, 507,995 spyware detections and 3,738,539 backdoor detections between the third quarter of 2025 and the second quarter of 2026.
Kaspersky researchers flagged embassy impersonation scams as a particular risk for tourists, noting that scammers can spoof official phone numbers so that fraudulent calls appear to come from legitimate government or embassy lines. These calls often involve claims of visa problems or urgent financial matters designed to pressure travellers into handing over personal information or money.
QR code fraud a growing concern
With QR codes widely used across China for payments, transport and other everyday transactions, Kaspersky said cybercriminals are increasingly replacing legitimate codes with fraudulent versions that direct victims to fake websites or payment portals.
“Travel is a time when people naturally focus on discovering new places, not on cybersecurity. This is exactly what makes tourists attractive targets: they use unfamiliar digital services, connect from new locations and often make quick decisions,” said Noushin Shabab, Lead Security Researcher at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).
Kaspersky advised travellers to book only through official websites or apps, verify URLs before entering payment details, use strong and unique passwords with multi-factor authentication enabled, and avoid scanning QR codes from unverified sources.
