Summer Travel Scam Spotlight: Online Hotel Booking Issues

Imposter Websites

Recently, a consumer booked a hotel room for a family event – but later learned by calling the hotel’s front desk that the room had never actually been booked at all. Instead, the consumer had accidentally “booked” the room on a fraudulent website that looked identical to the real hotel’s page. As a result, the consumer lost their money and had no lodging for their upcoming event.

Ways consumers can avoid imposter websites:

· Don’t click links in social media ads and posts.

· Check if the website’s address has any unexpected additions or differences from the usual URL. Scammers sometimes add words (like “booking” or “reservations”) to an address or swap a “.com” for a “.net” so the address looks correct at a glance. This is called “typosquatting.”

Whenever possible, book directly with the hotel – not on a third-party website. Confirm the hotel’s website is legitimate by checking the company’s social media platforms or calling the front desk. Remember that the first search result is not always the correct one.

· Call the hotel after booking to confirm the room has been successfully reserved.

Negative Option Billing

Unfortunately, the problems didn’t stop there. After discovering they didn’t have a valid reservation and being told by the hotel’s front desk there were no vacant rooms during the dates of their stay, they managed to find an available room on a third-party booking website. The consumer booked and paid for the room but was later charged over $200 more than what they expected. The reason: They had not unchecked a small box on the third-party site’s payment page. The box was for an optional ‘Refund Protection’ fee, but the box was checked by default, meaning consumers had to manually ‘opt out’ to avoid being charged extra.

This is called “negative option billing” and use “dark pattern” techniques. Here’s how consumers can avoid it:

· Thoroughly review the final reservation details before payment to ensure no loyalty upgrades or “add-on” packages were automatically tacked on during the checkout process.

· Carefully read and understand refund policies.

· Check the entire booking webpage for any checkboxes or acknowledgements that may be in small text.