In a recent e-mail to users, the company said it had “recently noticed suspicious activity affecting a number of reservations.” Investigations found that the compromised data may include booking details, names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers linked to reservations, as well as any information customers shared with the property they booked.
The Netherlands-based company, however, said financial information and home addresses were not accessed from its systems.
“We have dedicated teams and employ machine learning tooling to monitor, detect and block suspicious activity around the clock and continuously work to enhance the robust security measures we have in place,” it said.
Booking.com, one of the world’s largest hotel reservation platforms, did not disclose further details about the scale of the breach, including the number of affected users.
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The logo of Booking.com is seen on a building in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Photo by Unsplash/Jas Rolyn |
TechCrunch reported earlier that some customers said they received a phishing message via WhatsApp that included “booking details and personal information.” That suggests hackers are leveraging the stolen information to target Booking.com customers.
Booking.com said it has since issued new PINs to users with reservations and “immediately took action to contain the issue.”
It also warned customers to remain vigilant against suspicious e-mails or phone calls impersonating properties or the platform, stressing that it would never request credit card details via e-mail, phone calls, text messages or WhatsApp.
The incident marks the latest in a string of cybercrime attempts targeting Booking.com, which has in recent times grappled with a surge in scams on its platform, according to The Guardian. Fraudsters have been known to request payment details under the pretext of pre-authorization or trip verification, before making large unauthorized charges.
In 2018, attackers deployed phishing techniques to obtain login credentials from hotel employees in the United Arab Emirates, enabling them to access the booking information of more than 4,000 users on the platform.
Booking.com’s website shows that 6.8 billion customers have booked hotel rooms and homes since 2010.
