Family scammed out of £2,300
The American Hotel and Lodging Association is warning consumers about the mass explosion of hotel booking scams that are costing the hotel industry billions of dollars and duping millions of travelers. All are basically a take on the old bait and switch. Here’s the how it usually plays out:
You book your hotel reservation online, using Google or any appropriate search engine.
You click on a link that looks legitimate and you’re taken to what appears to be the hotel’s website—the hotel’s logo, the copyrighted images, and a URL that includes the hotel’s name.
Seems O.K.—so you either call the 1-800 number or book from what you think is the hotel’s website. These scammers are brilliant—they can make hotel websites look exactly like the real ones. But sadly, when you get to the hotel, there’s no reservation.