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Booking.com Breach Exposes Trip Details, Triggering 'Reservation Hijack' Scams

Stolen booking data lets impostors pose as hotels to pressure guests for payments.

Overview

  • Booking.com says unauthorized parties accessed names, contact details, and reservation specifics, and it reset reservation PINs and warned affected guests.
  • Travelers report phishing through platform messages, email, and WhatsApp that cite real booking dates and properties and demand payment confirmation or card details.
  • Microsoft links the activity to hotel-partner compromises using ClickFix-style phishing that installs remote-access malware such as XWorm and VenomRAT and attributes it to group Storm-1865.
  • The company says its systems did not expose customer payment data, yet it has not disclosed how many people were affected or where they are located.
  • Security history points to wider risk in travel supply chains, with UK Action Fraud logging hundreds of similar scams and a prior Dutch regulator fine after a 2018 Booking.com-related breach.