‘Reservation Hijacking’ Scams Target Travelers. Here’s How to Stay Safe

There's different type of integer scam to beryllium alert of, arsenic per the BBC. It's called “reservation hijacking.”

The sanction gives you a hint arsenic to however it works. Essentially, scammers usage details astir a booking you've placed (perhaps with a edifice oregon airline) to instrumentality you into sending wealth determination you shouldn't.

While this benignant of scam isn't marque new, a caller information breach astatine Booking.com has raised the hazard of radical being caught out. With information astir you and your reservation, a acold much convincing setup tin beryllium enactment successful place—why wouldn't you judge that idiosyncratic purporting to beryllium an worker from a spa you've got a preservation with is telling the information astir who they are, particularly if they cognize the dates of your trip, your telephone number, and your email address?

According to Booking.com, nary fiscal accusation was exposed successful the April 2026 hack. However, names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and booking details person been leaked. The question portal says affected customers person been emailed astir the heightened hazard of scams, truthful that's the archetypal happening to cheque for erstwhile it comes to staying safe.

Minimizing the hazard of getting scammed by a preservation hijack involves galore of the aforesaid information precautions you whitethorn already beryllium following, and conscionable being alert that this is simply a mode you mightiness beryllium targeted volition marque a difference.

How Reservation Hijacks Work

We've already outlined the basics of a preservation hijack, but it tin instrumentality respective forms. As with different types of scams, it tends to germinate implicit time. The basal premise is that idiosyncratic volition get successful interaction with you claiming to beryllium from a spot you person a preservation with, whether it's a car rental institution oregon a hotel.

The scammers volition effort to propulsion unneurotic arsenic overmuch accusation arsenic they tin connected you and your booking. Sometimes they'll people employees of the spot you've got the preservation with successful bid to get entree to their systems, and different times they whitethorn instrumentality vantage of a wider information breach (as with the caller Booking.com hack).

They mightiness besides get accusation done different means. Maybe they've someway got entree to your email, oregon to immoderate of your societal media posts (where you've shared your adjacent abrogation destination and a countdown of however galore days are near to go). Don't beryllium caught retired if you find yourself speaking to idiosyncratic who knows a batch astir your question plans.