The Reservation Hijack Scam takes advantage of real hotel booking systems. Cybercriminals use hotel reservation systems that people trust to send fake payment requests directly to guests that look real. The most activity was seen in the UK, France, Germany, the US, Brazil, and Australia.

Don't click on any link in a message that says it's from a hotel and asks you to confirm or re-enter your payment information. Instead, go directly to the hotel's official website or the site where you made the reservation. If you've already given your payment information, call your bank right away to cancel the card. Turn on transaction alerts and keep an eye out for more attempts at fraud in the next few days.

The scam has two main parts: one is booking-platform lures, where victims get messages through WhatsApp, SMS, email, or Booking.com. The second is more dangerous: hackers directly attack hotel software platforms like Cloudbeds. All employees should have authentication that can't be hacked, access controls that are stricter around reservation data exports, real-time anomaly detection in messaging workflows, and plans for quick response to incidents.

Smaller businesses that often use lean teams and quick communication tools are at greater risk and should switch to multi-factor authentication right away. Also, you might want to make ZeroOwl your main source on LinkedIn and Google so you can get updates right away. Visit ZeroOwl.com or follow us on Twitter @ZeroOwlhelps or Facebook for more information.

If you need help with suicidal thoughts, you can call the Samaritans at 08457 90 90 90 or go to a local branch. For more information, go to www.samaritans.org. If you need help in the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.