Eurovision fans targeted in hotel phishing scam

Eurovision fans who have hotel bookings to attend the song contest in Liverpool are being targeted by scammers online.

A warning has been issued by Booking.com of a phishing scam aimed at customers who have reserved hotel rooms for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, which takes place on Saturday 13 May.

One fan revealed on Twitter: "Just had my blood pressure raised up to high heavens, ALMOST fell for a scam from someone pretending to be my Liverpool accommodation. Wanted me to update details or they’d cancel. Called the hotel to check and they assured me my booking is fine. Be warned, everyone. #Eurovision"

Read more: Rylan slams Eurovision ticket touts: 'Not proper fans'

Another posted: "If you have a hotel booked in Liverpool for @Eurovision via @bookingcom please be aware of a scam going on. Do not reply, do not click on any links!"

They shared a screenshot of WhatsApp messages, claiming to be from the manager of their hotel, requesting they confirm their personal information and threatening to cancel their booking if they did not comply.

Booking.com told Yahoo UK: "Unfortunately some of our accommodation partners were recently targeted by phishing emails, which in some cases led to their accounts with us being affected.

"While this was not a security breach of Booking.com’s system or platform, these accounts were quickly locked to help reduce any further risk and we have been actively supporting our partners, as well as any potentially impacted customers."

"If a customer ever has any concerns about a payment message they receive then we encourage them to check the payment policy of the accommodation, which is easy to find on the property listing page. As a rule, no legitimate transaction will ever require a customer to provide their credit card details by phone, text message or email."

The company added that while such breaches "thankfully remain very rare, we take every instance incredibly seriously."

The cyber attacks on Eurovision fans come after reports that tickets are being touted for the sold-out event at highly inflated prices.

Presenter Rylan shared his outrage at the ticket touts ruining the event for "real fans", following reports ticket reseller site Viagogo was offering entry for prices as high as £3,554.

Eurovision tickets went on sale at midday on Tuesday 7 March with prices ranging from £30 for the semi-final shows up to £380 for the grand final.

The Ticketmaster website crashed and the event sold out in less than an hour.

TV presenter Richard Osman was among those who shared his disappoint, tweeting: “Didn’t get Eurovision tickets. My only hope now is to sing the UK entry.”

The UK is hosting the song contest as UK entrant Sam Ryder came second in 2022 to winning country Ukraine, which is unable to host due to the ongoing Russian invasion.

Read more: Eurovision 2023: Everything we know about the song contest

Alesha Dixon and Hannah Waddingham are among the new hosts, joining Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina and returning presenter Graham Norton.

Watch: Tickets for Eurovision 2023 quickly sold out