Victims lose $8.8k to phishing scams linked to reservations on Booking.com since start of 2023

Victims have lost at least $8,800 to hotel-related phishing scams since the start of 2023.

The police said they have observed a trend of such scams where victims had made reservations for hotel rooms via Booking.com, with at least five reports made since the beginning of this year.

Scammers would pose as representatives from the hotels and ask the victims for their banking details via WhatsApp call or message.

They would request personal details via a link to confirm the reservation.

Upon clicking on the link, the victims would be redirected to fraudulent websites to key in personal and banking details such as one-time passwords, passwords or credit numbers.

In some cases, these websites would prompt the victims to make payments to confirm the reservation.

Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they contact the hotel or Booking.com or when they discovered unauthorised transactions on their bank accounts or credit cards.

Members of the public are advised to note and follow these crime prevention measures:

• Verify the information with hotels through official contact details listed on their webpages.

• Do not click on links in unsolicited messages and look out for tell-tale signs of a phishing website.

• Never disclose personal or Internet banking details and one-time passwords to anyone.

• Report any fraudulent transactions to your bank immediately.

If you have any information relating to such crimes or if you are in doubt, please call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

All information will be kept strictly confidential. 

For urgent police assistance, dial 999.

Visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam hotline at 1800-722-6688 for more information on scams.