Booking.com warns of up to 900% increase in travel scams

The OTA is warning artificial intelligence is driving an explosion in travel scams

Marnie Wilking, the firm's head of internet safety, reported a surge of "anywhere from a 500 to a 900% increase" in the last 18 months, with a significant spike in phishing attacks. These scams, where individuals are deceived into sharing their financial information, have become more prevalent since the introduction of generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

Key takeaways

• During her speech at the Collision technology conference in Toronto, Ms. Wilking emphasized that AI is making scams more difficult to identify, as it can produce convincing images and highly accurate text in various languages;
• She advocates for hotels and travelers to implement two-factor authentication—an added security measure involving a code sent to your phone—as "the best way to combat phishing and credential theft;"
• Despite her concerns about scammers leveraging AI, she noted that the technology is also enabling Booking.com to swiftly eliminate fake hotels attempting to defraud users.

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