Thursday, August 02, 2012

Hotel Booking Scam

I got this email today. Fortunately, I know I did not book a hotel for August 4-6 and I'm reasonably sure that opening the file will not reveal any information I want, but rather would be an attempt to mischief.
Subject:  Reservation Confirmation [1342976], Thu, 2 Aug 2012 09:47:18 +0800
From:  "Booking.com" <customer.service@my.booking.com>
Date:  Wed, August 1, 2012 5:47 pm
Priority:  Normal
Options: 
View Full Header |  View Printable Version  | Download this as a file  | View Message details | Report as Spam
Hotel Confirmation:   7395329
Date:   Thu, 2 Aug 2012 09:47:18 +0800
---
Herewith you receive the electronic reservation for your hotel. Please refer to attached file for full details.
Arrival: Saturday, August 04, 2012
Departure: Monday, August 06, 2012
Number of rooms: 1

Sincerely, Customer Service Team
Booking.com  http://www.XXXX
Your Reference ID is: 3225161
The Booking.com reservation service is free of charge. We do not charge you any booking fees or administration fees, and in many cases rooms offer free cancellation.-Booking.com guarantees the best hotel rates in both cities and regional destinations - ranging from small family hotels to luxury hotels.


Attachments:

What are some of the telltale signs of a scam?  This one is deceptively simple, but . . .

The email doesn't list a recipient, there's no  "To"
  • My name is not mentioned in the reservation
  • No hotel is mentioned in the reservation, though there is a legitimate website called My Booking, but there is an extra 'dot' in the email address listed
  • I have to open a file - a well known way to infect computers with whatever evil the spammer/hacker is sending

I'm sure there are other signs I'm missing*.  But  . . .


How many people will unthinkingly click on the attachment in attempt to clear up the confusion?
How many people have hotel reservations for August 4 who will open this?
If the world were a fair and equitable place, would there still be people who would need to disrupt other people's lives with stuff like this?


*There are lots of sites that offer advice on how to deal with email hoaxes and scams.  I even found one that let's you paste the email into window and they'll check if it's a known scam.  But you have to give them an email address.  I passed on that.

Here are a couple sites.  It's useful to check them now and then as a reminder, plus these things evolve and get more sophisticated.

Microsoft Office tips
Kansas State University - Email Threats
(Three years old, but still interesting)  Wired - Identify a Phishing Scam

[UPDATE: August 7:  MX Lab reported on July 31 that the linked zip file contained a trojan:
The attached ZIP file has the name Booking_Confirmation_073120123972991.zip and contains the 37 kB large file Booking_Confirmation_07312012.exe.
The trojan is known as W32/Falab.J2.gen!Eldorado, Trojan-Spy.Agent, Downloader.Dromedan or TROJ_KRYPTIK.NC.
At the time of writing, only 9 of the 41 AV engines did detect the trojan at Virus Total.
Virus Total permalink and SHA256: 78cca5db33888091d98854835d6ca80b77568d5f106a9d7739e7a3efa02df659.
Hmmm, I should have found that before I posted.]

7 comments:

  1. Coincidence - but I did have a booking around this time for 2 rooms so thought something had gone wrong...usually I can spot scams a mile off but this just created a little bit of uncertaintanty in my head. Thanks for blog post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have received the exact same email included a zipped file. This will be blocked and deleted! Why don't people just get regular jobs?!?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I got one last night, exactly the same. The attached file is a program (i.e. it ends .exe) so I immediately deleted it and also checked via control panel that there wasn't some new unwanted program listed now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had TWO of these emails today. Fortunately I know better than to open any attachments or use any links. Even when I think there might be a chance that it's legit, I go to the site in question via another way. In all, or most cases, the email was a phishing scam or something similar. Thanks for the info and for helping me to validate my suspicions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for posting this. I just received one today, and although I know I don't have a booking any time soon, I do have one in the distant future. I will have great satisfaction in deleting the scam-mail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie, glad it was of help. Thanks for letting me know.

      Delete
  6. Booking.com is a scam they rip you off big time do not use them!

    ReplyDelete

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