A couple running a holiday retreat were left stunned when strangers turned up and claimed they had made a booking despite there being no record of it.
Dreamy Escapes owners Kate and Rob Foster said they were confused after tourists turned up at their door.
The couple run a holiday retreat consisting of several properties set across 10 acres of land in Hunchy on the Sunshine Coast.
The tourists explained to Mr and Mrs Foster that they had booked the Wunya Tiny House, a two-bedroom tiny house designed for couples, through Booking.com.
The couple had no idea what they were talking about and turned the strangers away because the property had already been booked by other guests.
Mr and Mrs Foster soon discovered that a scammer had created two fake property listings and was accepting bogus bookings.
As a result, the travelers lost their money and had nowhere to spend the night.
The incident is not the first for the couple, as Kate and Rob’s business has been attacked several times.
The travellers said they had booked into the Wunya Tiny House (pictured), managed by Dreamy Escapes Accommodation, in Hunchy on the Sunshine Coast.
Scammers created four separate listings in July alone.
Mr and Mrs Foster said they felt helpless after countless guests, who had made similar bookings, turned up only to find the property was booked.
“We had a couple crying because they were so devastated,” Foster said. alphabet.
The couple believes the booking information, including their logo and photos of the property, was copied from their Airbnb listings.
The business owners had previously listed the property on the website, but canceled their listing more than a year ago.
The last two listings advertised the property as being located at different addresses on the same street.
Dreamy Escapes bill themselves as “luxurious and tranquil” retreats ideal for singles and couples to “rest, heal, create and nourish themselves internally.”
According to the company’s website, Mr. and Mrs. Foster are yoga teachers and family constellation therapists.
The couple also host several wellness workshops on the Sunshine Coast.
Major online hosting platforms around the world are being targeted by scammers and hackers, with many of them using artificial intelligence to carry out their attacks.
Marnie Wilking, Booking.com’s chief information officer, said there had been a 500 to 900 percent increase in scams in the past 18 months.
Kate (pictured left) and Rob Foster (pictured right) discovered holidaymakers were falling victim to a fake online property listing scam after they were forced to turn travellers away.
The ACCC-run Scamwatch website recorded 363 scam incidents involving Booking.com in 2023.
Australians lost more than $337,000 to these scams.
Cassandra Cross, a professor at Queensland University of Technology, said scammers target online hosting services because so many people use them.
Professor Cross said it was difficult for companies providing accommodation services to stop fake listings as there were so many properties being advertised on a daily basis.
“The ability of offenders to replicate and create these fraudulent posts far outstrips the ability of platforms to remove them,” Professor Cross said.
Mr and Mrs Foster said they cannot report the fake listings because they do not have a Booking.com account.
The couple reported the issue to the ACCC and also sent several emails to Booking.com and called its customer service team several times.
The couple has resorted to checking the Booking.com site every day for fake listings.
The couple claimed they had made a booking for the property on Booking.com, but the company had not created a listing to advertise the accommodation (file image)
“We couldn’t stop people from booking there and we couldn’t stop people from showing up and knocking on the doors of our current guests, so it was a really difficult situation,” Foster said.
The couple said the listings were posted on the website for a week before they were removed, but they have not been able to verify this with the company.
A Booking.com spokesperson said they are using several security measures to detect scams and act immediately to remove fake listings.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Booking.com for further comment.
