In short
Most common fake: Urgent messages saying your booking will be cancelled unless you confirm your card details.
Safest check: Open the Booking.com app or website yourself and check your booking confirmation and payment details there.
Where to report it: Contact Booking.com customer service, which is available 24 hours a day, through the official app or website to report suspicious messages or payment requests.
What Booking.com says
Booking.com says no genuine transaction or reservation change will ever require you to pay with gift cards or give your card details by phone, text message or email. It advises never sharing payment details through email, text or messaging apps. Source: Booking.com
Common fake Booking.com messages
These are the 5 shapes a fake Booking.com message usually takes. They are listed in the order we see them most often, and none of them is something Booking.com itself does.
- Urgent messages saying your booking will be cancelled unless you confirm your card details
- Requests to pay by bank transfer in advance
- Attempts to move the conversation off Booking.com to another messaging app
- Messages with spelling mistakes, mixed languages or odd sender addresses
- Payment links that lead to fake Booking.com pages
Booking.com's real web addresses
Genuine Booking.com links and emails use these domains. Look at the part just before the first single slash: booking.com is real, but booking-support-center.com or booking.com.account-check.top are not.
- booking.com
Scammers can also hide a fake link behind real-looking text. Learn how to read a web address.
How to check a Booking.com message safely
- Open the Booking.com app or website yourself and check your booking confirmation and payment details there
- Check that the web address matches the real booking.com domain before entering any details
- Keep all messages and payments on the Booking.com platform
- Contact Booking.com customer service through official channels if a payment request seems odd
How to report a fake Booking.com message
- Contact Booking.com customer service, which is available 24 hours a day, through the official app or website to report suspicious messages or payment requests. Official details on news.booking.com
Also report it to the official fraud service in your country. See the worldwide list.
If you clicked, paid or shared details
Act quickly. It makes a difference.
- If you entered card or bank details, call your bank now using the number on your card, and ask them to block the card.
- If you entered a password, change it at booking.com, typed into your browser yourself, and turn on two-step verification. Do not use any link from the message.
- Expect follow-up calls or messages pretending to help, sometimes claiming to be from Booking.com security. Never share one-time codes and never move money to a "safe account".
- Contact Booking.com customer service, which is available 24 hours a day, through the official app or website to report suspicious messages or payment requests, then delete the message.
More help: Phishing links and fake login pages and what to do after a scam.
How to protect yourself next time
Use a password manager
It only fills in your password on the real website, so a look-alike login page gets nothing. It also makes a different password for every account, so one leak doesn't open the rest.
Free: Bitwarden has a free plan, and even the password manager built into your phone or browser beats reusing one password everywhere.
- NordPass Partner link Password manager with a free plan and a family plan for up to six people.
Turn on two-step verification, ideally with a security key
With two-step verification, a stolen password isn't enough on its own. A hardware security key goes further: it simply doesn't work on a fake site, so it can't be phished.
Free: Two-step verification is free. Switch it on in the security settings of your email, bank, WhatsApp and social media accounts today.
- YubiKey (Yubico) Partner link A small USB or NFC key you tap when you log in. It will not work on a fake site.
Compare the tools that help, and what each costs
Links marked Partner link may earn us a commission, at no cost to you. It never changes our advice, and the free option always comes first. Affiliate disclosure.
Questions people ask
Does Booking.com send messages asking for payment or personal details?
Booking.com says no genuine transaction or reservation change will ever require you to pay with gift cards or give your card details by phone, text message or email. It advises never sharing payment details through email, text or messaging apps.
How can I check if a Booking.com message is real?
Open the Booking.com app or website yourself and check your booking confirmation and payment details there. Check that the web address matches the real booking.com domain before entering any details. Keep all messages and payments on the Booking.com platform. Contact Booking.com customer service through official channels if a payment request seems odd.
How do I report a fake Booking.com message?
Contact Booking.com customer service, which is available 24 hours a day, through the official app or website to report suspicious messages or payment requests.
I clicked a link in a fake Booking.com message but did not enter anything. Am I at risk?
Opening a link is far less serious than filling one in. Close it, and if you need your account, reach it by typing booking.com yourself. Clicking does tell the sender your number is live, so expect more messages for a while: contact booking.com customer service, which is available 24 hours a day, through the official app or website to report suspicious messages or payment requests.
Have you had this one?
Tell other people what the message said and how it reached you. It helps someone recognise it before they tap.
No stories yet. Yours could be the one that warns someone.
Official sources and further reading
We check our pages against official advice from the organisations themselves and from government agencies.