AI fraud

Main article: Artificial Intelligence

Deepfakes (DeepFake)

Main article: Deepfakes (DeepFake)

Chronicle

2024: How artificial intelligence helps fraudsters trick travelers. Scams in the world became 900% more

At the end of June 2024, the Booking.com service warned its users about an explosive increase in travel fraud cases related to the use of AI. According to rough estimates, over the past 18 months, the number of cases of this kind of scam has grown by 500-900%.

Especially noticeable is the increase in the number of phishing attacks, when people are tricked into transferring their financial data. According to security researchers, this is due to the launch of ChatGPT, which perfectly simulates electronic correspondence with real specialists. In a phishing attack, scammers persuade people to hand over credit card details by sending fake but very convincing links to bookings by the type of Booking.com and Airbnb sites.

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Similar types of fraud have been known for many years, and often such fake letters give out spelling and grammatical errors. However, AI makes it harder to detect phishing emails because it can generate realistic images and grammatically correct text in multiple languages. Experts urge hotels and travelers to use two-factor authentication, which includes additional security checks, and in addition, be vigilant when clicking on links from an unfamiliar source.

However, it's not just scammers who use AI - the technology also allows Booking.com to quickly remove fake hotels that tried to trick people. AI models can quickly detect such schemes and either block scammers from accessing or disable them before they can cash in on cheating users.

Travel providers are advised by experts to advise travellers to minimise the risk of fraud, and travellers themselves to explore holiday options "with due diligence" by checking for contact details and a phone number.^[1]

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