Marnie Wilking, director of internet security at hotel booking site Booking.com, has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) is leading to an explosion in travel scams.
Wilking said there has been a “500% to 900% increase” in this regard in the last 18 months, and that there has been a significant increase in scams trying to get people to give away their financial information since the introduction of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT.
Noting that phishing has been around since the launch of email services, Wilking said, “However, the increase started shortly after ChatGPT was launched.”
“Attacker are using AI to spoof email better than ever before.”
Phishing attack or phishing scams, usually try to convince people to provide their card details by send fake, but very convincing, booking links.
Scammers often target popular accommodation services like Booking.com and Airbnb in travel-related scams.
After users make payments, the scammers either disappear without a trace or try to get more money through other messages.
These types of scams have been around for decades. Spelling and grammatical errors are telltale signs that these emails are scams.
But speaking at the Collision Technology Conference in Toronto, Wilking said AI is making them harder to detect because it can produce realistic images and much more accurate text in multiple languages.
Wilking called on hotels and travelers to use two-factor authentication, saying it was “the best way to combat phishing and identity theft.”
Wilking also urged people to be more careful than before when clicking on links in emails.
