Booking.com reports 900% surge in travel scams

Marnie Wilking, Chief Information Security Officer at Booking.com, told AFP at the Collision technology conference in Toronto, Canada, that the company had witnessed “anywhere from a 500 to a 900% increase” in scams over the past 18 months.

She suggested the launch of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT had aided the tactics of scam artists.

“Of course, we’ve had phishing since the dawn of email, but the uptick started shortly after ChatGPT got launched … The attackers are using AI to launch attacks that mimic emails far better than anything that they’ve done to date,” she said.

Scammers use websites like Booking.com and Airbnb to create fake listings for holiday accommodation. Once a customer makes payment, the scammer will either become uncontactable, leaving the customer without a place to stay, or they will continue the scam with further messages.

At the Toronto conference, Wilking said AI’s ability to produce realistic images, and more genuine-sounding text in multiple languages, has caused the number of scams to surge.

She suggested hotels and travellers should use two-factor authentication as an additional security check, stating that it was “the best way to combat phishing and credential stealing”.

Wilking also urged people to be more wary of booking links.

At the same time, she pointed out that AI was enabling Booking.com to more efficiently remove fake hotels: “We’ve set up AI models to detect those and either block them from getting on there to begin [with] or take it down before there’s any booking,” she said.

Recent research from fraud prevention platform Ravelin shows online fraud is increasing globally.