Tourist booking data used in fraud messages

Guest booking data held by tourism associations in Styria has been accessed and used in fraudulent messages, ORF reported. Emails about the security incident have reached numerous guests in recent days, according to the Kleine Zeitung. The data includes names, addresses, email addresses and travel dates; credit card and bank details were not affected.

All Styrian tourism associations are affected. The Styrian Tourism Association has informed the data protection authority, and accommodation providers have also been notified. Feratel, the company that operates the booking system, confirmed the incident but said there had been no direct data breach at the company. The cause may involve services provided by third parties, and external data-forensics specialists are working with the associations’ IT experts.

The incident also affects tourism associations outside Styria. Four associations in Tyrol and several in Salzburg are reportedly facing problems. Guests are advised to check the authenticity of messages about bookings and be cautious of requests for personal information or payments.