The Police have observed a trend of hotel-related phishing scams where the victims had made reservations for rooms via Booking.com. Scammers would pose as representatives from the hotels and ask victims for their banking details. Since the start of 2023, the Police have received at least five reports of such scams, with reported total losses amounting to at least $8,800.
In this variant, victims who have made hotel reservations on Booking.com would receive a call or message via WhatsApp from scammers who claim to be representatives of the hotels. They would request the victims to provide personal details via a link to confirm the reservation. Upon clicking on the link, the victims would be re-directed to fraudulent websites to key in personal and banking details (e.g. One-Time Passwords (OTPs), passwords, or credit card numbers). In some cases, the fraudulent 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/credit cards.
Members of the public are advised to note and follow these crime prevention measures:
- Always verify the authenticity of the information with the hotels through the official contact details listed on the hotels’ webpages;
- Do not click on URL links provided in unsolicited messages. Look out for tell-tale signs of a phishing website;
- Never disclose your personal or Internet banking details and OTPs to anyone; and
- 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. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘I can ACT against scams’ campaign at www.scamalert.sg by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can ACT against scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.
Annex A
Images of conversations between the victims and scammers
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
27 February 2023 @ 10:30 PM