Watch Out for Fake Airbnb & Booking Websites!

If you’ve been thinking about planning a summer vacation or a trip of any kind recently, you’ll want to watch out for these new and very deceptive copycat versions of Airbnb.com and Booking.com. Read on to learn more! 

Travel Scams: Airbnb Scam and Booking Scam 

Our malicious website technology has recently detected two fake websites impersonating Airbnb.com and Booking.com. To be clear, both Airbnb and Booking.com have no affiliation with these malicious websites — it is simply a case of cybercriminals creating copycat versions of the companies’ legitimate sites to try to scam people.  

Here’s what the fake sites look like compared to their legitimate counterparts: 

Fake site URLs: 

• Airbnb[.]ld83528[.]ru 
• SecurePropertyCheck[.]com 

As you can see, the two fake sites look very similar to the real versions. However, no legitimate bookings can be made on the fake sites — they’re simply designed to steal victims’ personal and financial information.  

When you think about all the information that is perfectly normal to enter onto hotel/short-term stay websites, the idea of sharing such information with a cybercriminal is a very chilling one. The fake websites will request info such as your full name, address, phone number, and credit/debit card info (including card number, expiration date, and 3-digit code). With such information, cybercriminals can make purchases in your name (potentially racking up massive bills) and commit any number of other crimes, including identity theft. 

The danger of such fake sites is very real, especially when you consider that they could be included in Google Search results just like real sites. Fortunately, we’ve got an awesome (and free!) tool called Trend Micro Check to help you detect scam sites and avoid making a very costly mistake (more on this later!). 

Booking Phishing Email Scam 

In addition to the fake sites above, we’ve also recently detected a Booking.com phishing email (once again, not connected in any way to the legitimate company). Here’s what it looks like: 

The email says that you can claim a 20% discount at any hotel in the world. However, with the email being completely bogus, there is of course no discount. The goal of this email is to get would-be victims to click on the “Verify your account” button and eventually inadvertently share their personal and/or financial information with the scammers behind the scheme. Check out the free tool below so you don’t fall for such scams! 

How to Avoid Scams for FREE 

The truth is, there are lots of scam sites on the internet and tons of dangerous phishing emails. What’s more, is the fact that they’re getting even more difficult to detect with common sense alone. For the easiest and most reliable method of detecting and avoiding scam sites and phishing emails, check out Trend Micro Check.  
  
Trend Micro Check — our 100% FREE browser extension and mobile app — can protect you against scams, fake and malware-infected websites, dangerous emails, phishing links, and lots more! If you come across something dangerous online, you’ll be alerted in real time so you’ll know to stay well clear.  

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