Fraud can affect any accommodation. Pascal Mafait, Senior Director of Fraud, Trust and Safety at Booking.com, in an informational article addressed to properties partnering with the platform, analyzes the phenomenon and provides practical guidance for protecting businesses and travelers.
He writes:
“Fraud is constantly evolving and can affect anyone, from global hotel chains to independent properties. At its core, fraud is about theft. It involves criminals trying to take something that does not belong to them.
From my perspective as Senior Director of Fraud, Trust and Safety at Booking.com, the key issue is how we can protect ourselves while keeping travelers, partners, and our company safe.
While we often see fraud as a technological issue, in reality it is a human problem. What I enjoy most is working with many talented people in the fight against increasingly sophisticated criminal organizations.
How are fraud methods evolving, especially with AI?
Fraudsters and cybercriminals tend to adapt quickly to changes. When we close a vulnerability by introducing a new preventive control or product, they often change tactics to continue targeting credentials, credit card data, and other information. In that sense, it is often a cat-and-mouse game.
What we have seen in recent years is that fraudsters have found ways to scale fraud attacks very quickly. With artificial intelligence, it has become much easier to create convincing phishing messages that trick people into sharing their credentials with attackers. AI is used to generate content that looks so real it persuades people to click on malicious links from messages they believe are legitimate.
We are seeing a wide variety of fraud types affecting travelers and partners. Some examples include loyalty and marketing scams, which appear as fake bookings designed to extract money from the system.
How does Booking.com use AI and technology to fight fraud?
At Booking.com, we use AI to combat fraud across the entire customer journey. Our systems and processes take a multi-layered approach:
Machine learning helps us scale transaction monitoring and detect fraudulent or high-risk transactions.
Data analytics identifies anomalies and patterns that are out of sync.
A strong response and recovery process ensures we support travelers and partners affected by fraud.
Across all investigation and escalation channels, we use AI to optimize our workflows and operate as efficiently as possible.
How does Booking.com collaborate with the industry to fight fraud?
As a marketplace with many touchpoints with both travelers and partners, Booking.com plays an important role in the ecosystem in fighting cybercrime and fraud.
This means taking proactive action to support the industry by sharing the right information, building strong connections, collaborating with industry bodies, and ensuring robust recovery processes to support affected partners and travelers.
Booking.com works closely with other industry players to combat fraud.
Collaboration is a shared responsibility. We regularly engage with other industry stakeholders, including hotel chains, connectivity providers, and online travel agencies, where we exchange information and discuss fraud prevention strategies. We also work with industry organizations and are members of the Retail and Hospitality ISAC and the Merchant Risk Council.
We invest heavily in fraud prevention, and this goes hand in hand with working with leading professionals in the industry.
What can hotels and other accommodation providers do to protect themselves from fraud?
Awareness is extremely important. Understanding the full threat landscape helps everyone across the business stay alert and aware of the risks they may face.
At Booking.com, for example, we recently trained over 14,000 employees on fraud awareness, providing them with the tools and guidance they need to identify suspicious activity and report or escalate it quickly, in order to better support and protect our partners and travelers.
The Partner Hub is an excellent resource for fraud and security topics. We provide articles and guidance on what partners can do to stay safe. If something seems suspicious, you can report it at report.booking.com.
My final advice to partner accommodations is to stay vigilant. Stay informed. Be aware of the threat landscape so that whenever an issue arises, you know how to respond.”
