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How to protect your brand in the hotel and restaurant industry

In hospitality, every digital touchpoint is a potential risk. Fake listings, phishing, and scam ads can steal bookings and harm your reputation. This page outlines the main threats hotels and restaurants face and what you can do to prevent them.

Protect your brand with Abion

Why hospitality brands are prime targets

The hospitality industry thrives in the online world where it can be accessed across multiple platforms such as Google, TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Booking.com, gift card portals, local maps, and social media.

That visibility comes with risk. These public-facing, high-traffic profiles are easy for bad actors to spoof, hijack, or impersonate. Fake listings can steal bookings. Scam phone numbers can reroute guest inquiries. Impersonated ads and offers can mislead paying customers - while the brand takes the blame.

And because bookings are time-sensitive, even small delays in reacting can lead to real losses in revenue and trust.

Brands we secure

A threat landscape built for deception

Scams in hospitality don’t look like obvious scams - they’re designed to feel real. Guests receive fake confirmations or emails from "support." A cloned website shows up in search results. An ad for discounted stays leads to a lookalike gift card shop. Even seasoned staff may be tricked by altered invoices or fake phone calls from impersonated suppliers.

And with high seasonality, large guest volumes, and distributed teams, many of these scams go unnoticed - until reviews drop or chargebacks hit.

For hospitality brands, trust is won slowly and lost in seconds. That’s why proactive protection is no longer optional.

Key threats to defend against

Threats in hospitality rarely occur in isolation - they are coordinated, complex, and difficult to detect. They target guests, internal systems, and your digital channels alike. When a single attack slips through, it doesn’t just disrupt operations - it damages the guest experience and your brand value.

Here, you’ll find an overview of the most common attack types and how they can typically unfold.

Fake Booking Sites & Scam Ads

Cloned websites and impersonated listings mislead guests into making bookings through fraudulent portals. These sites often look legitimate and rank high in search ads, diverting revenue and causing customer frustration.

Gift Card & Voucher Fraud

Fraudsters create fake campaigns, landing pages, or seller profiles offering discounted gift cards or vouchers. These scams spike during the holiday seasons and often result in chargebacks or support overload.

Impersonated Support & Scam Numbers

Fake customer service numbers are published on review platforms or search engines, rerouting guests to fraudsters who request payment or personal details under false pretenses.

Review Hijacking & Listing Spoofing

Manipulated or duplicated listings on platforms like Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor can confuse customers, redirect bookings, or harm your search visibility, without your knowledge.

Social Media Brand Impersonation

Fake accounts promote offers, giveaways, or competitions while impersonating your brand. These scams erode guest trust and are often shared widely before detection.

Phishing & Confirmation Scams

Guests and staff receive spoof emails with fake reservation updates, payment links, or login requests - often timed to coincide with real bookings.

Made for hospitality – big or small

The more visible your hotel or restaurant is online, the more complex it becomes to protect. Abion scales with your growth – offering real-time monitoring, legal support, and automated alerts so your team can stay focused on guests, not threats.

How Abion Helps:

Real-time monitoring of fake listings, impersonated profiles, and brand abuse
Automated alerts for scam ads, cloned sites, and fake phone numbers
Domain and certificate protection for digital infrastructure
Legal support for takedowns, disputes, and enforcement
Centralized platform for team coordination and reporting
Scalable, seasonal-ready protection tailored to your brand

Guest trust, brand reputation, and what’s at risk

Hospitality depends on first impressions - and online is where they happen. When scams reach your guests before you do, trust is undermined before the stay even begins.

The reputational and financial risks extend beyond lost bookings. One fake gift card shop, one spoofed listing, or one impersonated support profile can lead to a wave of confusion, chargebacks, negative reviews, and operational noise.

Today, brand protection isn’t just about damage control. it’s a core part of delivering reliable guest experiences.

Let’s Safeguard Every Interaction

You can’t be everywhere online - but Abion makes it possible.