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Booking.com data breach details revealed by whistleblower
A whistle-blower involved in the Booking.com daa breach has exposed how customers were scammed.
Booking.com customers were sent demands for prepayment from the hotels they booked as part of what the online travel agent called a ‘phishing scam’.
The man, who did not identify himself, told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box that he was offered $12 an hour to call customers and explain an email was coming from the hotel.
The e-mail would ask for advance payment with bank details which had no connection to the hotel.
Customers who queried the payment demand were directed to a fraudulent phone line, where the criminals had installed staff who posed as Booking.com employees.
He said he was supplied with long lists of Booking.com customers.
The whistleblower, who hadn’t realised he was involved in a scam until afterwards, said many foreign visitors were coming to London from countries including Bangladesh, Israel, South Africa, China, Japan and India.
Last month, the Netherlands-based firm, which estimated about 10,000 customers had been affected, offered refunds to those who had lost money.
A spokesman for Booking.com said: "The new aspect of this weekend’s BBC piece is that a whistleblower contacted the BBC with the story that he was working for the fraudulent gang responsible for the phishing attack on Booking.com, during the summer.
"Of course we work closely together with police to stop these kind of activities, that are not only targeting Booking.com but Internet based companies and their customers in general.
"Customers are key to us and personal data of customers are safe with Booking.com and we have taken our time to work with all parties involved such our partners, but most importantly our customers to make sure the impact on them is as minimal as possible."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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