Need to know
- Many of us turn to sites like Booking.com and Airbnb or social media to arrange accommodation and travel
- Scammers may also use these platforms to try to steal money and sensitive information
- We share some of the common cons targeting travellers on popular sites and how you can avoid them
Planning some time off? You're not alone – an NAB survey of more than 2000 Australians earlier this year found that around a third are saving up for a holiday.
For many of us, arranging a break involves logging on to popular sites such as Booking.com or Airbnb to book accommodation, or just searching for advice on social media.
Unfortunately, scammers know this and have used these platforms to try to trap unwitting travellers.
We're breaking down the key accommodation and travel cons to look out for on popular sites, with tips to follow so you can score a scam-free break.
On this page:
- Fake listings
- Hacked hotel accounts
- Fake customer service profiles
- Other travel scams to watch out for
- CHOICE calls for action to stop scams
Have you been affected by a scam or seen one you think people should know about? Contact the author.
Fake listings
Sites like Booking.com and Airbnb have opened up the travel industry by allowing ordinary people to turn their properties into an accommodation business.
But scammers are also trying to get in on the action and have been known to create fake listings designed to steal travellers' deposits.
"Criminals have used Airbnb and other sites to put up fake rentals and fake holiday rentals," says Monica Whitty, professor and head of the department of software systems and cybersecurity at Monash University.
Whitty says criminals carrying out this scam will often use photos of a real property in their advertisement, without its owners knowing.
"So people have turned up thinking they've moved into a new home or come for a holiday to a rental and the reality is someone's living there."
Criminals carrying out this scam will often use photos of a real property in their advertisement, without its owners knowing
Airbnb has previously told CHOICE that, while false listings are rare, it removed 59,000 suspicious listings from its platform last year and blocked an additional 157,000 from being posted in the first place.
Meanwhile, Booking.com's chief information security officer Marnie Wilking, recently told a technology conference that her company had seen a 500–900% increase in scams across the broader travel industry in the 18 months to June.
Many of these were attempts to phish for someone's sensitive details and Wilking said Booking.com has also seen scammers set up fake property listings.
A Booking.com spokesperson tells CHOICE that suspicious listings are rare and it works hard to verify properties registered with its service.
How to spot a fake listing
Criminals have been known to set up scam listings on holiday accommodation and rental sites.
Whitty says there are ways holidaymakers can avoid falling for a fake property, beginning with not rushing to get a good accommodation deal.
"I empathise with the customer who's trying to get it sorted so that they have a nice holiday, but just putting that extra bit of time in is really worthwhile," she advises.
As with many other cons, scammers creating fake listings have been known to try to lure in victims with deals too good to be true – a property in a popular location going for a fraction of the price of those around it, for example.
Another sign a property might be fake is if the host tries to direct you off the platform where it's being advertised when you enquire about making a booking, especially when it comes to payment.
"That would be a worry," Whitty says. "They might try to take you off the site to get you to pay, and that way it's far less likely to be detected [by the platform]."
If you're suspicious, it can be a good idea to look at how recently the property was made available for renting.
"How long has it been there for? If it's been there for a short period of time, one might be a bit suspicious, because criminals bring these things up and down very quickly," Whitty explains.
Hacked hotel accounts
Travellers have received suspicious messages from hacked hotel profiles on booking sites.
Another scam rearing its head involves criminals hijacking the accounts of hotels and other accommodation providers on sites such as Booking.com.
This scam, which has been reported on by the ABC, has seen compromised profiles sending hotel customers messages or links to impersonation websites, where they're asked to provide or update their payment details.
Victims have gone on to lose money and sensitive personal information after clicking on these links, the ABC says.
This scam ... has seen compromised profiles sending hotel customers messages or links to impersonation websites, where they're asked to provide or update their payment details
Booking.com has previously confirmed to CHOICE that scammers had been able to communicate with guests after gaining access to the profiles of a "small number" of accommodation providers on its platform via phishing emails.
The company has been advising its booking partners on ways to spot these emails, some of which pretend to come from Booking.com itself, and seek to steal the details hotels use to access their profiles on the platform.
How to spot a compromised account
Contact your accommodation provider directly if you believe its account has been hacked.
If you've used Booking.com or another reservation platform for your holiday, the ACCC says to beware of emails or messages appearing to come from your accommodation provider that include links or attachments.
Also be sceptical of any messages asking you to provide personal or financial information.
If you receive these sorts of messages, independently verify what you're being asked to do by contacting the accommodation provider you've made a booking with using details you've found yourself, such as via their own website or social media pages.
Fake customer service profiles
Scammers are also going after travellers on social media – we've recently seen accounts on X impersonating major Australian airlines and targeting customers in distress.
Scammers are believed to be using bot technology to prowl the popular social media platform and then leveraging these impostor accounts to respond to customers using the site to complain about the carriers.
Victims are often directed to private messaging services and then to phishing sites designed to steal sensitive information.
How to spot them
You can spot if an account replying to you is fake by looking at how many followers it has and when it was created – scam profiles will have very few followers and are often only around for months at most.
Accounts impersonating major arlines are targeting customers on social media. Image: X
Other travel scams to watch out for
Dodgy refunds
Showing there's no level to which they won't stoop, scammers are also targeting consumers already found deserving of compensation after being misled by legitimate travel and accommodation companies.
Since December last year, the ACCC has been warning Australians to beware of criminal opportunists in the wake of it ordering Qantas and Airbnb to refund large numbers of customers.
In separate cases, the consumer regulator said both companies would each have to return millions of dollars to tens of thousands of customers after they admitted to misleading consumers.
The ACCC says scammers may be using news of these payouts to target members of the public.
Its advice is to hang up on anyone who calls you out of the blue to help you get a refund, and never click on links in texts or emails or give someone access to your computer or bank account.
Suspicious scratchies
Scratch cards claiming you've won a prize look appealing, but are a common scam. Image: ACCC
Someone attempting to scam you by mail might seem almost quaint, but ACCC figures show almost $13,000 has been lost to scams delivered by post so far this year, so these old school cons still pose a threat.
Most recently, the ACCC has been warning Australians who receive a travel scratchie in their mailbox announcing they've won big that they're probably the target of a common scam.
It says not to share any personal or financial details with anyone claiming to be associated with the prize and/or pay a fee to receive money or other winnings.
CHOICE calls for action to stop scams
Sites such as Booking.com and Airbnb say scams on their services are rare and that they work to prevent and remove them, but CHOICE believes more can be done.
"Digital platforms must do more to protect users from scams, instead of allowing scammers to use their platforms to steal money from consumers," says senior campaigns and policy adviser Alex Söderlund.
"These big tech companies have the means and expertise to protect people from scams, but they won't do more without the government making them."
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
