Scam messages coming in the name of Booking.com contain information about the person’s real hotel reservation. In addition, in the opinion of the authority, they look really credible and come through the service’s official message channel.
The Cyber Security Center warns again about scam messages coming through the hotel booking website Booking.com, which imitate the service’s genuine contacts.
The scam is particularly deceptive, as the e-mail message, according to the Cybersecurity Center, “looks really believable” and contains information about the recipient’s correct hotel reservation. In addition, the message states that it comes directly through Booking.com.
The e-mail includes a link that leads to a fake website similar to Booking.com, where they try to fish the victim’s credit card information, among other things.
The Cyber Security Center reminds you that you should not enter a credit card number or other personal information on a site whose authenticity you are not completely sure of.
– If you receive a similar message and doubt its authenticity, you can always ask about it using the hotel’s own contact information. You should also always check the address of the website in the address bar of the browser before entering personal or credit card information, the authority reminds.
Not a new phenomenon
Ars Technica, which reported on the subject a year ago, said at the time that similar scams have been circulating in the name of Booking.com for at least five years.
The man interviewed by the site had received an email informing him of a message that had arrived at Booking.com. In reality, no message had arrived, but the scam email imitated the real email announcing a new message.
The email contained information about the hotel he had booked, his full name and a genuine reservation number. Clicking on the link took me to a scam website imitating Booking.com with amazing accuracy, showing the correct dates of the genuine reservation and even the exact and correct price of the hotel stay.
So far, it is not known how the fraudsters got access to the company’s reservation data. Booking.com has said it is aware of the scams, but has not confirmed a data breach or leak.
This is what a scam website that opens from behind a link in an email looks like, mimicking the real Booking.com very closely. Cyber Security Center
Sources: Cyber Security Center, Ars Technica