The holiday season is traditionally a hot time not only for tourists but also for fraudsters. One of the most dangerous schemes in recent years targets customers using hotel booking services. The peculiarity is that the message from fraudsters can be received through official communication channels and contain your actual travel details.
Fraud Mechanism: From Hacking Hotel Systems to Money Theft
• Hacking Hotel Systems. Fraudsters gain access to the hotel's operational system, through which employees manage bookings made on Booking.com. As a result, fraudsters have access to real customer data: name, chosen hotel, duration of stay, and other information.
• Convincing Message. Having access to this data, fraudsters send the customer a message via Booking.com's built-in messaging system, appearing as if it is from the hotel itself and through an official communication channel. The message states that there was an error when verifying the bank card, and the booking may be canceled if the customer does not urgently confirm the payment method.
• Fake Payment Page. The link leads to a site that outwardly does not differ from the real Booking.com site: the same room photos, the same style, sometimes fake notifications that
