Bot Attacks Are Coming to Town: How to Safeguard Your Customers’ Holiday Travel – Source: securityboulevard.com

The end of the year brings a season of holidays—and travel to and from those holiday celebrations. Many people take advantage of travel points they’ve accrued throughout the year to find discounts and take the leap. Many people are interested in the new “Travel Tuesday” sale, following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, where fresh new customers and seasoned travelers alike will descend on travel platforms looking for a deal.

But how safe are travel accounts? Malicious bots and fraudsters have increasingly targeted travel accounts, to steal personal information, payment details, or even special rewards like frequent flier miles. And if your customers can’t trust that their data and rewards are safe, they’ll book travel elsewhere.

What can travel fraud look like to your customers?

Travel fraud takes many forms because fraudsters have multiple avenues to attack. These hypothetical stories are intended to illustrate avenues used by bots and fraudsters.

The Stolen Honeymoon

Sarah meticulously planned her dream honeymoon to Bali: the flights, the luxurious resort, the romantic dinners—everything was perfect. But a few days before their departure, Sarah received a notification that her flight reservations were canceled. Panicked, she contacted the airline, only to discover her account had been hacked and the flights rebooked for a different date and destination. The honeymoon was ruined, replaced by stress and scrambling to salvage the situation.

Whether the fraudster used an attack like phishing or credential stuffing to hack Sarah’s airline account, the result is the same: ruined travel plans, lost money, and devastated dreams.

The Points Plunderer

John, a frequent flier, religiously collected miles on his airline loyalty program. He envisioned using them for a family vacation to Europe. However, upon checking his account balance a few weeks before their trip, he discovered his points were decimated. Hackers had accessed his account and used the points to book expensive flights for themselves. John’s years of loyalty rewards were gone in an instant.

We don’t know when the hacker gained access to John’s frequent flier account. It’s entirely possible they performed a successful credential stuffing or credential cracking attack near when the rewards account was opened—and bots were set up to automatically redeem points for whatever the fraudster wanted. But through one account that wasn’t properly secured, John lost years of effort and rewards. His impression of the airline he had been so loyal to is now tarnished, replaced by a sense of frustration and disappointment. The lack of security left him questioning their commitment to protecting loyal customers like himself.

The Reservation Roulette

Emily booked a budget hotel room in Paris through a popular travel booking platform. However, upon arrival at the hotel, she was met with a confusing situation. The hotel staff informed her that the room was already occupied. After much back-and-forth, it turned out a bot had made a duplicate reservation for the same room using stolen credit card information. Emily was left stranded, scrambling to find alternate accommodation at the last minute.

This kind of scenario is easy when bots have access to stolen payment information. While there could have been several ways for attackers to steal Emily’s credit card details, an unsecured payment processor on the travel booking platform is a likely culprit. Either way, Emily is unlikely to purchase anything through the platform ever again—to avoid the inconvenience and stress of scrambling for alternative accommodations at the very last minute.

The Importance of Customer Security for Travel Platforms

Purchasing a plane ticket, booking a hotel, and other tasks people perform on travel platforms deal with sensitive data, from personally identifiable information (PII) to payment details. If this data is not kept safe, travelers could be left stranded, out thousands of dollars, and completely lose faith in your platform.

Travel accounts are also juicy targets for fraudsters wanting access to data, rewards programs, and more—making them ripe for account takeovers and data breaches. Keeping your customers safe from any cyberfraud threats protects your business against regulatory penalties, angry customers, and revenue loss.

How can customers keep their travel plans safe?

• Strong Passwords & Two-Factor Authentication: One of the easiest ways for fraudsters to gain access to accounts is through credential stuffing, where login credentials from one website are tested on another site. Creating complex, unique passwords for travel accounts and enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) where possible helps secure your accounts.
• Beware of Phishing Scams: Fraudsters use phishing to get you to provide personal details, usually by posing as an authority figure like a bank or even “IT” at your job. Many phishing attempts involve suspicious emails and unsolicited links that, when clicked, steal information automatically.
• Monitor Travel Accounts Regularly: Check your travel accounts regularly for suspicious activity, such as bookings you didn’t make, or missing rewards points. Report any irregularities to the platform immediately.
• Travel Securely on Public Wi-Fi: Public Wi-Fi is not a secure connection, leaving your data in danger. Avoid using public connections for sensitive transactions like booking travel—and if you need to use public networks, consider using a VPN for added protection.

How to Keep Your Customers’ Holiday Travel Plans Safe

Your customers have a litany of ways to keep their accounts safe—but if your business is unprotected, so are they. Travel platforms should implement several layers of security against online threats.

Use Automated Bot & Fraud Mitigation

There are too many automated fraudulent requests for your business to handle all of them manually. Automated bot and fraud mitigation looks for suspicious activity and blocks bad bots and fraud on autopilot—without costing your team an extra second of work. Look for a tool that works in real time, is continually updated for the latest threats, and is backed by a team of experts.

DataDome Account Protect is one such tool.

Warn Customers About Phishing Scams

If customers aren’t aware that your company will never call them directly, or know what email to expect official contact through, they could be susceptible to phishing attacks. Warn customers about the dangers of phishing, common attack methods, and the easiest ways to spot a phishing attempt.

Monitor Customer Accounts for Suspicious Activity

Did a long-standing American customer just order tickets from an IP address outside the U.S.? Did a customer who only ever orders the cheapest seats suddenly pay for multiple first-class tickets?

You should monitor customer accounts for a variety of suspicious activities, like changing payment details or billing addresses, ordering from a new geolocation, suddenly purchasing upgraded tickets, etc.

DataDome Account Protect: A Powerful Solution

DataDome Account Protect is a powerful solution for travel platforms to protect against even the most sophisticated threats, like credential stuffing, account takeover (ATO), and fraudulent bookings. Unlike other ATO protection solutions that rely on limited server-side signals, Account Protect collects user-centric and business data signals to create a digital footprint of user behavior. Using these signals, DataDome can identify and neutralize suspicious behavior—regardless of origin—with greater accuracy.

Benefits for Travel Businesses

Stopping bots and fraud threats keeps your business safe, ensuring:

• Reduced fraudulent transactions.
• Enhanced customer trust.
• Improved operational efficiency.data
• Stronger brand reputation.

Protect Your Loyal Customers’ Holiday Travel Plans

Your customers are looking for a stress-free travel experience, and don’t want the added hassle of their personal information or payment details being stolen. Protect your customers by implementing a powerful automated bot and fraud mitigation tool, warning them about phishing scams, and monitoring customer accounts for suspicious activity.

Schedule a free demo of Account Protect and experience the power of bot protection for yourself.