Australia’s consumer watchdog is warning of an increase in scams involving fake contact from travel website Booking.com, as customers are targeted with official-looking emails, texts and correspondence.

An ACCC spokesperson said throughout 2023, Scamwatch received 363 reports of scams mentioning Booking.com, with losses of more than $337,000.

“This was an increase on the previous year where 53 reports were made,” the spokesperson said.

To protect against scams, the ACCC recommends that booking.com users:

• Independently verify emails containing links and attachments that ask you to sign in or enter personal or financial information.
• Contact the organisation on a contact number you have located independently away from the email
• Use the organisation’s app to access your account, verify messages and implement two-factor authentication for added security
• Note that booking.com staff won’t ask you to provide account passwords or financial details, such as credit card numbers, over the phone.

Increase in scams

Last year’s targeting scams report revealed Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scams in 2022, with payment redirect scams representing $224 million of the total amount.

That rate is showing no signs of slowing down.

Catriona Lowe, ACCC deputy chair, said scams are evolving quickly.

“We have seen alarming new tactics emerge which make scams incredibly difficult to detect,” she said upon the report’s release.

“This includes everything from impersonating official phone numbers, email addresses and websites of legitimate organisations to scam texts that appear in the same conversation thread as genuine messages.”

With new scams arising all the time, the ACCC is warning people to be vigilant with their personal information. Photo: TND

According to Scamwatch, more than $455 million was lost across 280,240 reported incidents in 2023, with just under 10 per cent of all reported scams resulting in financial loss.

The most common form of scam is via text message, however, phone call scams contribute to a far larger amount of money being lost by targeted people.

Men were also more likely to lose money than women, despite women reporting scams slightly more.

The number of reports and the money lost directly correlated to the age of the people targeted, with those over 65 losing over $100 million of the total amount.

The true numbers are likely even higher, with a survey revealing that 75 per cent of people who encounter scams do not report it to authorities or the ACCC’s Scamwatch.

Is enough being done?

The Australian government launched the National Anti-Scam Centre in July, bringing together experts from government and the private sector to combat scams.

Consultation on the Albanese government’s Scams Code Framework closed on January 29, which will “set clear roles and responsibilities across the scams ecosystem, with an initial focus on banks, telecommunications providers and digital platforms, to make Australia an even harder target for scammers,” according to assistant treasurer Stephen Jones.

In the proposed framework, businesses will be obligated to prevent, detect, disrupt and respond to scams, and some will face penalties if they fail to comply or have robust measures in place to address risk.

Other countries, like the United Kingdom, have legislated that banks are required to refund the victims of scams in a bid to force institutions into stronger action on behalf of consumers.

Banks are required to split the cost of refunding 50-50 with the company receiving the transfer.

The British payment systems regulator will have the authority to direct firms, banks and companies to refund customers when the new regulations begin this year.