Hotel booking scams cost up to $220m per year
Hotel booking scams are on the rise partly because 1 in 3 vacations is set up online, with many hotel and airline reservations punched in on those tiny, hard-to-read smartphone screens.
Now a hotel trade group is asking Congress and the U.S. attorney general’s office to take action on the problem, which may be bilking 2.5 million travellers each year.
“If you book the room online you may not find out there is a problem until you show up at the front desk,” said Maryam Cope, vice president for government affairs at the American Hotel and Lodging Assn.