Business ProfileforExpedia.com

As of July 16, 2019, BBB received numerous reports regarding a possible Expedia impostor scheme. 
 
Consumer’s allege they either looked up Expedia’s phone number online using their internet search engine and called the number found, or they received an email that appeared to come from Expedia. When the consumer called the phone number, the agent answered the phone representing themselves as Expedia’s Customer Service. The impostor agent then asked for the consumer’s email address or Expedia itinerary number. Once this information was provided, consumers allege the impostor agent was able to pull up the consumer’s itinerary and personal information, including the last four of the credit card used for the booking. 
 
Consumers stated to BBB because the agents seemed knowledgeable about their trips and were able to provide suggestions, they trusted them. In each case, the consumers stated they were asked by the impostor agent to purchase a gift card in order to pay for their change requests, book a new trip, or receive refunds in order to remedy the issue.  In some cases, these consumers were kept on the phone while they went to the store to purchase the gift cards; once the gift cards were purchased, the consumers were asked to read the numbers off the cards in order to verify them. At this point, the agents transferred the money off the gift card into their own account and proceeded to tell the consumers the card was invalid, and they needed to purchase another one. 
 
Once the consumers refused to continue to purchase gift cards, the agents were no longer helpful, and consumers were left with invalid gift cards and their requests unfulfilled. In one case, a consumer had her trip cancelled by the impostor agent without her permission.

On July 23, 2019, BBB reached out to Expedia requesting a formal response regarding the Impostor Scheme and the steps they were taking to remedy the situation. 

On August 6, 2019, Expedia provided BBB with the following response: 

Expedia Group can confirm that some customers who used popular search engines to search for customer service numbers for brands that fall under the Expedia Group family of companies, saw fraudulent ads containing fake customer service numbers. Once customers called one of these fake numbers, scammers then used our itinerary look-up tool to gather itinerary information and gain the trust of callers. The itinerary look-up tool allows a customer to access their itinerary without creating an account or logging in, a standard feature of many e-commerce sites. Currently, we have no reason to believe, based on our investigation, that there has been a breach of any of our networks or systems. 
 
Expedia Group is completely committed to resolving this issue and has taken the following steps:

  •  Within the itinerary look-up tool, Expedia offered a messaging function that allowed customers to share itineraries and notes with friends and family. Scammers used this tool to send notes and give the false impression that they were company representatives. We have removed the messaging capability.
  •  We continue to explore additional options and have implemented or removed features to improve and safeguard the itinerary look-up tool, while continuing to offer the convenience our customers expect.
  •  At our request on July 11, 2019, we worked with one of the largest search engine sites where these fraudulent ads are often found, to place the Expedia Group portfolio of brands on their monitoring list. This search engine site has advised us that they are running regular sweeps for such fraudulent ads. In addition, we have received commitment from the search engine site to continuously update their internal monitoring with signals from pre-existing fraudulent ads to proactively catch false ads that may appear in the future.
  •  Our team is monitoring online search engine search results for fraudulent ads to flag them for removal.
  •  We are also actively requesting major search engine companies to update their terms and conditions to prohibit bidding on paid placement of ads based on searches for other companies’ customer service and contact numbers to eliminate  this type of scam for not only Expedia Group, but for other e-commerce sites globally which have also been victimized by similar scams. 
  •  Rest assured, this is a top priority for us. We continue to monitor the situation very closely. As these scammers evolve, our own team of experts will identify and react to online scams to ensure we are keeping our customers as safe as possible, and we continue to work closely with search engine companies to resolve these ongoing issues that appear to have originated on their platforms. 
 
In addition to the tips highlighted by the Better Business Bureau, we highly recommend our customers:

  •  Utilize the Expedia mobile app to manage itineraries and get in touch with our customer service team with only a few taps. Through the mobile app, travelers can reliably access their account information, request changes and easily contact our team of agents. 
  •  Avoid using online search engines to find our customer service number until they can ensure they have fixed the problem and can confirm the legitimacy of the information found on their platform. 
  •  Do not post your e-mail address or other reservation information publicly.
  •  Remember that Expedia will never ask you to purchase a gift card to pay for your travel reservation or make changes to your itinerary. Hang up if you believe you have reached Expedia, but the person you are talking to asks you to purchase a gift card or wire money to them.

If you are a victim of this scheme, BBB recommends filing a complaint with FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov, and Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. Additionally, you can file a Scam Tracker Report with BBB