The places for the grand final of Eurovision sold out in a few minutes this Tuesday. But some fans of European singing competitions have seen their plans to travel to Liverpool marred by phishing attempts.
After booking their hotel nights through Booking.com, some Eurovision fans have been targeted by a fraudulent email campaign. The information was confirmed to the British media BBC by the site specializing in accommodation reservations. However, the company denies having suffered a computer security breach.
Contacted by WhatsApp
The BBC was unable to verify how the cybercriminals obtained the customer’s details. However, it appears that Booking.com’s “certain number of providers” have been affected by cyberattacks, but the site claims to have quickly blocked them. However, some of them “accidentally compromised their internal systems by clicking on these messages.”
Victim of the scam, Marc Deruelle detailed the process of the criminals to the British media. He was contacted directly by a receptionist after booking via WhatsApp. At first, the person asked if he needed a parking space, before feigning a problem with paying for his reservation.
Safer direct bookings
But his bank quickly contacted him by text and then a call. The establishment alerted him that someone was trying to empty his accounts. In total, almost 900 euros were transferred to Uganda. The transaction may have been cancelled.
UKHospitality, which represents more than 700 hotel and restaurant businesses, said it was always safer to limit intermediaries by booking directly with hotels.
“Hotels will very rarely contact you on WhatsApp. For the first time, there are many young people, especially, who are not used to booking and going to these events, and scammers are taking advantage of their vulnerability,” warns Kate Nicholls. , chief executive of UKHospitality.
Booking.com confirms these words by ensuring that no legitimate transaction will ask a customer to provide their bank details over the phone, SMS or email.
Source: BFM TV
