Booking: beware of this scam aimed at extracting your bank details

Several hotel pages available on Booking are victims of cyberattacks. Scammers steal customers' bank details.

Despite protective measures internet data, some platforms still suffer from cyberattacks . Since the end of December 2022, several hotel pages available on the Booking.com booking site are hacked . Hackers act like hotel staff and steal customers' bank details .

On Friday January 13, the hotel and catering employers' union, the GNI, alerts hoteliers and their customers to a cyberattack . This union invites victims to disconnect from the site and file a complaint . How does this piracy manifest itself? What should be done to fix it? And what are the consequences?

Booking.com is hacked

First of all, remembering what Booking.com is. This last is a website that offers Internet users accommodation in several hotels. On the platform , you will find several hotel pages that offer their service .

It is the hotel pages that are hacked by the hackers. The information site Le Parisien, published on January 13, 2023, report how this deceit manifests itself .

“Cybercriminals take control of the interface of certain professionals with Booking.com, thanks to targeted phishing techniques”.

Their objectives in this maneuver are to extract payment data Internet users who use the Booking.com site. It's not just customers who are victims. Hoteliers too are targeted in this scam . Via Booking.com, scammers send link to hotel manager .

The latter suspects nothing and clicks on the link. By clicking, without realizing it, he downloads a virus that installs on his PC and grabs the passwords. In possession of this, not only scammers can steal customers' personal data , he can also, according to Le Capital:

'Change the brand name, contact details, rooms and rates of establishments'.

How to solve this problem ?

Since December, until now, we don't know yet who is behind this scam . Relayed by Le Parisien, Véronique Martin, director of the Europe and digital department at the GNI explained that:

'We don't know where the security breach came from, from the hoteliers or from Booking, but the cybercriminal manages to enter the hotelier's mailbox and recover the information'

On the other hand, again according to Véronique Martin, dozens of hoteliers are already victims of this scam . After saying this, she added that:

“It is certainly only the tip of the iceberg. We must prevent this from spreading throughout France, or even in Europe”.

So far, there is no reliable solution to fix this problem . In any case, the director of the Europe and digital department at the GNI recommends that:

'Hoteliers must file a complaint and so must customers, which will make it possible to assess the extent of these attacks'

The consequences of this cyberattack

Hacking the Booking.com website is above all a real loss for the platform . However, it is not just them, hoteliers are also victims. In addition to the problems related to the leakage of personal information and customers who probably lost money . The hotels in question too lose turnover . Reported by the Le Parisien news site, published on January 13, 2023, hotelier Fabienne Ardouin, president of the GNI's Digital Commission said:

“I immediately cut off my connectivity with the site: I no longer have rooms for sale on Booking.com, I have been losing turnover for a week”

This situation is due to the number of people who no longer trust the Booking platform . So what is the platform doing to remedy this problem?

Booking swears not to be at the origin of the fault

The GNI brought the case to cybermalveillance.gouv.fr. The union denounces the Booking platform for 'lack of support in this security breach' .

For its part, Booking.com ensures that “the security flaw does not come from” of the site. He also adds that the hacked accounts were quickly locked and that 'the travelers potentially concerned have been informed'.

There you go, Booking.com is hacked. To not miss anything on the rest of this case, stay connected to our information site.

Source : Leparisien