Booking.com has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is driving an explosion in travel scams.
In June, Booking.com’s Chief Information Security Officer Marnie Wilking told the BBC that the platform had seen an increase in scams of "anywhere from 500 to 900% in the past 18 months”.
Wilking said there had been a significant marked increase in phishing – where people are tricked into handing over their financial details – since generative AI tools like ChatGPT burst onto the market.
"We've had phishing since the dawn of email, but the uptick started shortly after ChatGPT launched," she said.
"The attackers are definitely using AI to launch attacks that mimic emails far better than anything they've done to date," she said.
Phishing attacks often try to convince people to hand over their card details by sending them fake – but very convincing-looking – Internet booking links.
Scammers often target websites like Booking.com and Airbnb because they allow people to list their own places to stay.
After the victim has paid, the scammers either vanish without a trace – leaving the buyer without a place to stay, or have even been known to try to scam them out of more money through follow-up messages.
These sorts of scams have been around for decades, though they often come with telltale signs of fraud, such as spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
However, Wilking said AI was making them harder to detect because it could generate realistic images and much more accurate text, in multiple languages.
She has called for hotels and travellers to use two-factor authentication – it involves an additional security check, such as inputting a code sent to your phone – calling it "the best way to combat phishing and credential stealing".
She also urged people to be more vigilant when clicking on links.
But despite criticising how scammers are using AI, she said the technology was also allowing Booking.com to rapidly remove fake hotels that tried to scam people.
"We've set up AI models to detect those and either block them from getting on there to begin or take it down before there's any booking," she said.
Jane Hawkes, a consumer expert specialising in the travel industry, said travel providers should step up efforts to make people aware of the scams.
"They also have a responsibility to advise travellers on ways to minimise the risk of being scammed. Check that contact details are readily available on websites and that there is a telephone number – many scam sites intentionally don’t have one," she said.
