Reports of phishing scams for Booking.com customers have been increasing throughout 2023. The hackers so accurately reproduce official platform communications and even manage to get access to the official email address and in-app chatting function, that there is little indication the message is not genuine, leaving multiple travellers out of hundreds of euros, then having to spend hours on the phone with Booking, on the one hand, and with their banks, on the other, to hopefully get their money back.
When the dexterity and skill of hackers has got far beyond illiterate Nigerian Prince emails, fooling even the usually keen-eyed travellers, how can you protect yourself and avoid, as much as possible, getting scammed when booking your next trip?
1. Trusted platforms only
When booking a holiday, be it accommodation or plane tickets, opt for booking through trusted platforms, such as the official website of the airline or, despite the recent upstir, platforms like Booking.com. There are probably millions of official looking websites on the internet, so unless you are sure you are booking trough a trusted platform, do not be fooled by maybe better prices.
2. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is
If you find your accommodation or tickets at a much lower price than the average, then something’s most likely rotten in the state of Denmark. While some third-party booking platforms can offer prices that are a little lower than the official websites, the differences are not astounding. So, as tempting as it might be, unless you know for sure, meaning you or a friend have used that platform before, better go back to a trusted booking website.
3. Avoid paying in advance
While booking through platforms like Booking or Airbnb should be quite safe, even on these there are fake places than sneak in along with official listings. Whether the place does not actually exist or you find out when you get there that it is far from what was described in the listing, it’s best to opt for only paying once you get there.
Similarly, if you want to book a tour or an experience for when you get to the destination, unless you get the tickets directly through, for example, an official museum website, try to avoid paying before you know for sure the tour you are paying for is actually going to happen.
4. Check reviews
Tripadvisor, Booking, even Google Maps, try checking the reviews of the place you are about to book before actually making any reservations or paying anything. On the other hand, if the place has only 5-star reviews and not a single lower rating, that could also be suspicious, so you will have to use your instinct to decide whether it is a small business that has only received a few very great reviews or if all the reviews are fake.
5. Urgency
Never trust someone who asks for payment in a short timeframe. If, when booking, you are required to send an advance payment, either partial or in full, in a short period of time, it should be a red flag, except of course for when paying thorough trusted platforms directly at the check-out.
How the on-going Booking.com phishing works is by telling customers, some time after they book their accommodation, that there was a problem processing their card information when they made the reservation and they need to reconfirm their card details in 4 hours or, sometimes, up to a day. The urgency of the message is the only indicator that it is not genuine, as everything else is very well replicated to make it look like it is coming from Booking or from the hotel.
6. Don’t click on anything
If you receive an email or message related to your holiday that you were not expecting, do not download any attachments and do not click on any links. Better to double check with the company the message is supposed to be coming from if they did indeed send you that message and if you should be doing anything about it.
Similarly, avoid clicking on random ads that you see online. Since google knows you have started looking for your next trip, it will show you relevant ads, but sometimes, fake sites that look identical to trusted platforms can slip through, leading you to an official looking website that will likely trick you out of a holiday.
7. Trust your doubts
If anything at all seems suspicious, if possible, double check the information you’re seeing. For example, you might want to use google street view to look at the address of an accommodation that you are not 100% sure you want to book. Or if you receive an email that seems to come from a hotel you booked, it’s better to call the hotel or contact the customer support of the platform you used to make the reservation.
At the end of the day, there are countless options nowadays for booking your holiday, so better trust your doubts and move on to the next option if anything at all seems suspicious.