Jon Morgan, co-founder of business consulting firm, Venture Smarter, was mentoring a Gen Z entrepreneur when he noticed something strange about her life and the one she portrayed online.

His 23-year-old mentee had spent 1½ years crafting a luxury travel persona — one that suggested she was living a $500,000-a-year lifestyle, he said. In reality, her annual expenditure was closer to $12,000, he said.

"She would book $200 day passes at exclusive beach clubs in Miami [and] take 400 photos in six hours," Morgan told CNBC Travel .

Then she would post the photos over a span of eight weeks to give the impression that she frequently stayed in luxury resorts.

That was not all. Morgan said she would strike up conversations with concierges at luxury hotels, offering them money in exchange for l

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