Skip to main content
    All guides
    Travel and bookings

    The message that knows your hotel, your dates and your name.

    The line is “This rate disappears if you leave the page.” Its nastier cousin arrives after you’ve booked, and every detail in it is correct.

    Action needed: your booking will be cancelled

    Casa Aurelia Reservations

    Casa Aurelia, Lisbon

    Hello Sam, we look forward to your stay.

    Check-in
    Fri 11 Jun
    Check-out
    Mon 14 Jun
    Room
    Double, courtyard view
    Reference
    4471-208-655
    1

    Payment status: UNVERIFIED

    Confirm within 12 hours or your room is released.

    2

    Re-confirm card details

    3

    guest-verify-portal.test/4471

    4

    Or transfer €640 to our partner account and upload your receipt.

    5
    Exhibit / A booking confirmation. Hotel invented for this guide

    All of this is correct, apart from the red half.

    1. 1

      Everything here is true

      A correct name, date and reference prove nothing. Attackers can read them straight from the hotel’s reservations.

    2. 2

      A clock on your holiday

      One real example gave guests 48 hours or they would lose the reservation. The deadline is there to stop you ringing the hotel.

    3. 3

      Your card, again

      Switzerland’s cyber security centre says hotels and banks don’t ask you to verify card details by email.

    4. 4

      The address under the button

      It leads away from the hotel and the booking site. Don’t enter card details on a page you reached from a message.

    5. 5

      A transfer and a receipt

      One real scam asked for CHF 2,000 by bank transfer, with a receipt uploaded. A new way to pay, after you’ve booked, is the thing to question. ABTA says never pay into a private individual’s account.

    Swiss cyber centre caseABTA fraud advice

    Your booking is real. That’s the problem.

    This version doesn’t need a fake hotel. It borrows a real reservation and steps in between you and the front desk.

    1. Months before

      You book

      Something real, on a real site. The hotel exists and the room is yours.

    2. Weeks before

      The hotel is breached

      Switzerland’s cyber security centre found attackers had reached hotels’ reservation information, so they know who is coming and when.

    3. Days before

      A message arrives

      It may arrive by email or text, using your real name. There’s a problem with the booking, and a link to fix it.

    4. On arrival

      The desk has no idea

      Your money went to the attackers. The hotel never saw it, so as far as it knows, you still owe for the room.

    Two other versions to know

    The borrowed listing. Scammers copy a real rental and swap in their own contact details. Scamwatch’s version: you pay, and the owner has never heard of you.

    The ticket that never existed. ATOL warns that fake flight bookings can come with a convincing confirmation, and people can find out at the airport.

    Swiss cyber centre on hotel attacksFTC travel scamsATOL on travel fraud

    Ignore the link. Ring the desk.

    1. Go back to the booking yourself.

      Open the app or type the site’s address. If nothing is flagged there, ring the hotel on a number you found yourself and ask.

    2. Keep the money on the platform.

      Scamwatch says paying through the platform’s own system keeps its refunds, cancellation terms and dispute process on your side.

      Scamwatch holiday advice

    3. Scroll past the ads before you book.

      The FTC warns that scammers buy ads pairing their own number with a famous name, or linking to copies of hotel and airline sites. Use the unpaid results or type the known address.

      FTC, June 2026

    4. Search a rental’s address with the owner’s name.

      The same address under different owners points to a copied listing. A low price proves nothing alone, but it’s a good reason to run this search.

      FTC rental checks

    5. Get the refund terms before you pay.

      No written cancellation and refund policy, no booking. Treat a seller who stays vague as your answer.

    Check the logo against the register.

    United Kingdom

    • Logos get copied. Search the company on the Check for ATOL tool and confirm the exact name matches the website.Check for ATOL
    • Confirm ABTA membership on ABTA’s own search. Ask for a confirmation showing your six-digit flight booking reference (PNR).ABTA member search

    United States

    • If the only way to pay is wire, gift card, payment app or crypto, treat it as a scam. The money is almost impossible to get back.FTC
    • Only AAA and AATA are authorised to issue International Driving Permits in the US. Others sold online are fake.

    Australia

    • Ring the accommodation provider directly to confirm a deal before you pay.Scamwatch

    1. Entered your card

      Call the issuer now, report the payment and ask for the card to be blocked and replaced.

    2. Sent a transfer

      Ask your bank to try a recall straight away. In the UK, international transfers fall outside the reimbursement rules, so speed matters even more.

    3. Tell the hotel and platform

      Use contact details you found yourself. Confirm the booking still stands, and change your platform password.

    Get a plan for how you paid

    Sources and review

    Reviewed
    2 November 2026
    Review due
    2 May 2027
    Owner
    Scam Finder

    General guidance, not legal or financial advice. Rules depend on your country, provider and payment. This guide names UK, US and Australian rules where it can. Elsewhere, check with your national consumer or fraud authority. Example companies, people and figures are invented.