'Convincing' scam email used real booking number, check-in dates
RMS hack sees 'convincing' phishing scam emails using real hotel booking numbers sent to customers
A phishing email that was alleged to have been sent by Australian booking company RMS. (ABC News: Paul Yeomans)
In short:
Multiple Tasmanian hotels have been swept up in a data breach involving third-party booking provider RMS.
Guests are being warned to delete suspicious messages, and not click on any links.
What's next?
RMS is investigating the breach, and says credit card and payment details have not been accessed.
The email looks real.
"Thank you for booking Wrest Point Casino. We look forward to welcoming you," it states.
It then lists a reservation summary with a guest's actual booking number, room type and correct check-in and check-out dates.
The email warns that the credit card used to book the room has been blocked by the issuing bank and asks the user to hit a button to update and verify card details to avoid the reservation being cancelled.
The scam email that had the correct booking information for a stay at Wrest Point Casino in Hobart. (Supplied)
But the email was not sent by Wrest Point or its booking software provider, RMS.
The Hobart casino is one of many hotels across Tasmania and the rest of the country caught up in a phishing scam after guest names, contact details and booking information were stolen in a hack of the booking provider.
RMS investigating scam
RMS has advised messages have also been sent via text and WhatsApp.
RMS chief executive Adam Seskis apologised in a statement and noted scams were becoming "increasingly sophisticated".
He said credit card and other payment details had not been accessed in the hack.
"We are actively investigating the source of these communications, with the support of cybersecurity and forensic specialists,"he said.
"We understand that incidents like this are unsettling for our customers and their guests, and we regret any inconvenience caused."
Anyone who receives a suspicious message should delete it, and not click on any links. (Unsplash: Gilles Lambert)
He urged anyone who received suspicious communication not to click on any link, delete the message, and not forward it to anyone else.
He said if someone followed a link, they should run antivirus software and change passwords.
If a customer inadvertently handed over payment details, they should immediately contact their financial institution.
Hotels, caravan parks around Australia affected
The Australian booking management company is used by several Tasmanian accommodation providers, including Federal Group, which operates Wrest Point Casino and Country Club.
Federal Group's Wrest Point casino has been caught up in the phishing scam. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Other affected chains include ALH Hotels, which run Nightcap and Nightelier accommodation, and Discovery Parks, which hosts a resort at Cradle Mountain.
Major holiday park operators interstate such as BIG4, Reflections and G'day Parks are also understood to have been impacted.
RMS's booking system is used by more than 6,000 hotels, holiday parks and serviced apartments worldwide, according to its website.
Many providers, including Wrest Point, have emailed guests, alerting them to the scam and detailing how it would make genuine contact.
Scams a common occurrence, cybersecurity expert says
In 2021, Federal Group was caught up in a cyber attack that impacted its pokies machines and hotel bookings system for more than a week.
Earlier this year, major online travel website Booking.com was swept up in a data breach, prompting concerns about the protection of travellers' data.
At the time, the company said information accessed may have included "booking details, names, emails, addresses, phone numbers, and anything that you may have shared with the property".
Cybersecurity expert and University of Tasmania Adjunct Professor Joel Scanlan said nowadays breaches occurred in "basically all areas", with travel just one example.
University of Tasmania privacy expert Joel Scanlan says using third-party systems can be safer. (ABC News: Laura Beavis)
He said it wasn't uncommon for hackers to target third-party systems, but that didn't make them unsafe.
"If we're considering a hotel chain, for example, if they build their own booking system, they've got to put a lot of resources into that," Dr Scanlan said.
"If they use a third-party provider, they put less resources in, but they're going to get a product that has far more resources than they could afford [themselves].
"So, from a security perspective, third-party services are usually going to provide a more secure and better customer experience."
Dr Scanlan said the downside was that "we're sort of placing our risk somewhere else, and it's a risk that we're not then fully in control of".
"It does mean that a bad day could actually look a bit worse, because multiple organisations are affected," he said.
"But we're hoping that through the benefit of scale of using a third-party service, we've got a more secure system in the first place and we're less likely to have that data breach."
Hackers use data to build picture of targets
Dr Scanlan said when data was involved in a cybersecurity incident, it was important to confirm exactly what was accessed.
"If your email address has been stolen, it's probably actually something that's in the public domain anyway … whereas if it's accounts that are being stolen that's got things like passwords in it, we then need to think 'where else have I used that password?'."
Phishing emails can be used to cobble together information for more personalised scams. (ABC News: Owain Sita-James)
But he said even small captures could be used to create more personalised scams.
"It's just a case of us being aware of what data of ours is out there," he said.
"Those phishing emails and things can then be much more targeted at particular groups or phrased in certain ways based on the information that they cobble together."