Booking.com customers targeted by hackers
BOOKING.COM has been targeted by hackers trying to steal hundreds of thousands of pounds in the most recent cyber crime attack in the travel industry. It was claimed payment was needed – and the messages seemed alarmingly genuine.
Numerous hotels and guesthouses on holiday accommodation site Booking.com were targeted by bogus texts alerting victims to a security breach in an attempt to steal hundreds of pounds from customers.
Users were contacted via text and WhatsApp messages claiming payment was needed.
They were easily duped as the messages seemed to contain genuine personal data, including names, addresses, phone numbers, dates and prices of bookings, and reference numbers.
Marketing manager David Watts, 35, of Newcastle, told The Sun: “It looked very believable and I can believe people fell for it.”
Booking.com has said its systems were not compromised, but that the hotels it works with on a separate portal were and customers will be duly compensated.