This article was translated from Arabic. Read the Arabic original
Austria Now News – Vienna
Anyone who books through a fake hotel website may lose their deposit – but the damage may not stop there. According to Thorsten Behrens, head of the Austrian platform Watchlist Internet, which specialises in warning about online fraud, criminals later use the booking data for new attacks, calling victims while posing as bank employees and promising to recover the lost money, the consumer website help.ORF.at reported.
Fake websites copy real hotels
The fraudsters copy the websites of real hotels down to the smallest detail and promote the fake versions on search engines such as Google and on social media. Watchlist Internet is tracking entire networks of shell companies and copied websites, and even fake news portals suggesting that the fraudulent offer is recommended by an independent source.
According to Behrens, searching for a hotel’s website through a search engine no longer offers complete safety, as fake sites can also appear in regular search results, and fraudsters are active on booking platforms too. Anyone who books and pays in advance on a fake website may arrive to find there is no room.
The second call: a fake bank employee
Weeks after the deposit is lost, the fraudsters may contact the victim posing as bank staff. They cite details of the lost booking to gain trust, then promise to recover the money and guide the victim step by step through online banking.
Behrens warns that a completed payment cannot be reversed via the customer’s online banking account; only the bank itself can attempt that. Anyone who follows the caller’s instructions is making new transfers to the fraudsters themselves.
From 900 euros to tens of thousands
In this way, a lost deposit of around 900 euros can turn into a far greater loss, with Behrens citing possible amounts such as 9000 euros or even 90000 euros. The criminals cannot take over the hotel’s real web address, but they use similar-looking addresses.
Austria Now News – always keeping you up to date.
Symbolic image
Sources
help.ORF.at, Hotel-Fakes: Wenn nach der Buchung der nächste Scam droht, 17.10.2026, https://help.orf.at/stories/3237799/
