Fans of the singing competition have booked their hotel to watch the final from May 9-13 in Liverpool. But some, having gone through Booking.com, were then victims of phishing attempts.
The places for the grand final of Eurovision were snapped up in a few minutes on Tuesday. But some European singing competition enthusiasts have seen their plans to travel to Liverpool marred by phishing attempts.
After booking their hotel nights through Booking.com, some Eurovision fans have been targeted by a fraudulent email campaign. The information was confirmed with the British media BBC by the site specialized in the reservation of accommodation. However, the company denies having suffered a computer security breach.
Contacted by WhatsApp
The BBC was unable to verify how the cybercriminals obtained the customer data. However, it would seem that a “certain number of providers” of Booking.com have been affected by cyberattacks, but the site claims to have quickly blocked them. However, some of them “accidentally compromised their internal systems by clicking on these messages”.
“We are actively assisting our partners as well as all potentially affected customers,” said Booking.com, which continues “to make security and data protection a top priority”.
Victim of the scam, Marc Deruelle detailed the process of the criminals to the British media. He was contacted directly by a receptionist after booking via WhatsApp. At first, the person asked him if he needed a parking space, before simulating a problem with the payment of his reservation.
“I told myself that it shouldn’t be serious,” said Marc Deruelle.
Safer direct bookings
But his bank quickly contacted him by text and then by a call. The establishment alerted him that someone was trying to empty his accounts. In total, nearly 900 euros were transferred to Uganda. The transaction may have been cancelled.
UKHospitality, which represents more than 700 hotel and restaurant businesses, said it was always safer to limit intermediaries by booking directly with hotels.
“Hotels will very rarely contact you by WhatsApp. For the first time, there are a lot of young people, especially, who are not used to booking and going to these events, and scammers are taking advantage of their vulnerability,” warns Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality.
Booking.com confirms these words by ensuring that no legitimate transaction will ask a customer to provide their bank details by phone, SMS or email.