2023-07-21 19:52:15
New stitch
Suddenly, your hotel gets in touch with Booking, but it’s a scam
Numerous hotels have lost access to their Booking.com accounts. Cyber criminals are now using a perfidious scam to rob guests.
von
Michelle Ineichen
Maike Harder
Published21. July 2023, 21:52
Sarina Rauber almost fell for a scam.
Private
In the meantime, the 33-year-old has blocked her credit card, contacted Booking.com and changed her log-in data.
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What happened to Sarina Rauber is not an isolated case: warnings are already being sent online about the new form of credit card fraud.
20min/Michael Scherrer
However, Booking.com keeps the number of people affected secret.
20min/Celia Nogler
There are warnings online about a new form of credit card fraud.
Many hotels have lost access to their Booking.com accounts as a result.
According to Booking, the hotels have been eaten up by so-called phishing emails.
Cybersecurity experts explain how to protect yourself.
Reader Sarina Rauber (33) was on Thursday via Booking.com from their hotel contacted in Malta. Because she had booked it, she didn’t think anything of it at first, she says. “I was messaged via the chat on the official website because I should verify my credit card.”
The website to which the woman from Aargau was forwarded looked deceptively real and their booking details included: «I was taken aback when I saw that my last name as well the amount for the hotel did not match the booking.” However, she only broke off when she was asked for a second credit card because the first one is said not to have worked.
Booking keeps the number of people affected secret
“Not even a minute after I closed the window, I got a call from an unknown number that I didn’t answer.” In the meantime, Sarina has blocked her credit card, contacted Booking.com and changed her log-in data. “It was extremely perfidious and I’m really glad I didn’t lose any money.”
What happened to Sarina Rauber is not an isolated case: there are already warnings online about the new form of credit card fraud, for example on Anwalt.de. The booking platform itself is aware of the actions of the cyber criminals, but does not want to name the exact number of those affected.
Hotel booking accounts hijacked
According to Booking, the hotels have been eaten up by so-called phishing emails (see box): Cyber criminals have now hijacked their accounts. “However, neither the systems nor the infrastructure of Booking.com was penetrated,” the company said. Booking.com tries to Assist those affected in restoring access to their accounts. “Basically, we have teams that take care of the security of the accounts and continuously improve their processes.”
In addition, the platform has given its partners tips and up-to-date information on how they can keep their accounts secure themselves in recent months. This is because there has recently been an increase in cybercrime via phishing emails. “The fact that our platform is secure and trustworthy for partners and customers is our top priority,” says a spokesman for the company.
This is how you protect yourself
According to Sven Fassbender, a specialist in information security and co-founder of the consulting firm Zentrust, there is a high probability that the accounts will be hijacked at the start of the holiday season. “Many vacationers are currently under stress and don’t want to jeopardize their vacation at any price, which increases the chances of such fraud.” It is a well-known pattern that cybercriminals take advantage of this and use chat to exert time and action pressure.
As Fassbender says, as a general rule, hotels never contact their guests with a direct payment request via chat. “So if you get such a request, you should not click on the link.” The next step is to contact the platform’s customer service.
Tomaso Vasella, cybersecurity expert and managing director of the security company Scip AG, also recommends informing the credit card company and the authorities. “It is important to always be vigilant. If you find something funny, there’s usually a good reason for it.”
This is how the scam works
According to the Zurich cantonal police, the immediate scam is that the scammers send phishing emails and SMS or Whatsapp messages to customers in the name of the booking platform or the hotel. In the messages, the cybercriminals would pretend that the credit card information had to be verified. In order to make the claims credible, the fraudsters would use the booking data of the relevant customers in their messages, which they had previously obtained through cyber attacks or other security gaps. In a further step, the victims would be forwarded to fake websites of the holiday accommodations via appropriate links in the messages and asked to enter their credit card details.
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