How to avoid scams on booking.com

Booking.com for holiday accommodation deals, as well as services such as car rentals and airline tickets.

Essentially, it is the most visited travel and tourism website in the world. In 2023, it had over a billion bookings, doubling the number of bookings recorded in 2016.

It is obvious that its popularity has not gone unnoticed by cybercriminals, who exploit online services such as booking.com.

Read more: ChatGPT-4o led users to scam site

Booking.com itself has acknowledged the scale of the problem , saying it has seen a staggering “500 to 900% increase” in travel scams over the past 18 months. This increase is largely due to the misuse of tools by cybercriminals ,such as ChatGPT, since November 2022.

So let's look at some of the most common scams involving booking.com and what you should look out for when using this platform.

Phishing

Phishing emails , SMS and social media messages are key tools for hackers. In these scams, they impersonate trusted platforms or organizations, misleading victims into believing they are communicating with official representatives.

Even Booking.com is not immune to these attacks, as hackers continue to create campaigns in which they present themselves as representatives of the platform, hotels or other services that victims have booked through the site.

Often, hackers concoct convincing stories, creating a sense of urgency and urging victims to click on links to fix a supposed error or prevent their reservation from being canceled, thus demanding a new payment.

The ease of access to artificial intelligence (AI) tools has enhanced the ability of hackers to create more convincing and effective scams. By creating grammatically and syntactically correct messages without obvious errors and red flags, they can easily trick individuals and businesses into downloading malware, revealing sensitive information, or transferring money.

Hacked conversations

There have been several reports of hackers finding ways to trick their victims through the chat with phishing messages.

After infiltrating the hotel accounts where vacationers made their reservations, they contacted a large number of people directly via in-app chat. They demanded payment to confirm the reservation, claiming that there was an error with the previous payment, requiring them to pay again so they wouldn’t miss their vacation. The hackers then asked for credit card details or passenger information to verify or confirm the reservation.

See also: Hackers redirect hotel guests to fake Booking.com page

Although this did not result from a breach of the platform's support systems or infrastructure, we recommend that you remain cautious with any communication requesting personal data or payment information.

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Many properties look like houses straight out of a fairy tale. Indeed, some of them are literally unreal. Over the years, many holidaymakers have fallen victim to fake listing scams, where hackers advertise luxury holiday homes at great prices, leading people to pay, even through booking.com. When guests arrive, they discover that the accommodation does not exist or that the property is not for rent.

Fortunately, the platform's own systems quickly detect fake listings and remove them. However, by the time they do, your vacation may be ruined. That's why it's important to do your own research before booking.

Look for reviews and ratings for the property, compare the price to similar homes or apartments, and do a reverse image search to see if it’s free stock images or stolen from other websites. After all, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Fake job offers

The message on social media is simple: “We need someone to review hotel reservations. We pay from $200 to $1,000. All you need to do is rate or like the hotel via (fake Booking.com link).” Thus begins a message purporting to come from Booking.com, which is of course a scam.

The hackers will then ask you to pay a deposit to secure the job and/or send personal information, such as social security numbers or other data that can be used for identity theft. In some cases, the scammers may target bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies .

Read more: Booking.com: Fined €475,000 for failing to report data breach in a timely manner

How to stay safe?

Booking.com does not hire people to review hotels and does not recruit through unsolicited text messages. Recruitment is done exclusively through the Booking Careers platform and there are no jobs that require people to review hotels.

12 tips to avoid fraud on Booking.com and other travel services

• Whenever you are contacted by someone representing Booking.com or a hotel you have booked your stay at, look out for the typical signs of a phishing attack, such as requests for urgent action.

• Always check that emails are from the official domain and be careful with spelling mistakes. Additionally, the website itself lists several reputable email addresses.

• If you receive any suspicious communication, go directly to the website and log in to your account to verify anything necessary.

• Booking.com never asks for information like your full credit card details, social security number or passwords via email or chat.

• Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails or messages.

• Make payments through the official Booking.com platform. Avoid transferring money directly to the accommodation provider.

• Check the property's reviews and ratings on Booking.com and look for reviews that are authentic and detailed. Check and cross-check the property's details and images on other travel sites or review platforms.

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• Make sure your devices have up-to-date software to protect against malware and phishing attempts.

• Keep your operating system up to date to protect against vulnerabilities.

• Protect your online accounts with strong and unique passwords and of course two-factor authentication (2FA) for extra protection.

• If you encounter any suspicious activity, report the problem to the platform's customer service.

• If you suspect your payment information has been compromised, notify your bank or credit card provider immediately.

Have a good trip!

Source: welivesecurity