Tourists at SF hotels scammed by booking websites: city attorney
Fake hotel booking websites charge tourists hundreds of dollars in hidden fees and overpriced rates for San Francisco hotels.
How it works
You search online for a hotel in San Francisco and find a booking website that looks legitimate. The site shows a low nightly rate, but when you reach checkout, hidden fees, taxes, and surcharges appear and raise the total cost by hundreds of dollars. You complete the booking and pay, only to discover later that the site was not the real hotel or an authorized booking agent.
Red flags to watch for
- Price jumps hundreds of dollars between quote and checkout
- Website URL is slightly different from the real hotel's official site
- Site offers rates far lower than other booking platforms
- Checkout process is unclear or has surprise mandatory add-ons
- No clear customer service phone number or contact info
What to do
Book directly through the hotel's official website or call the hotel by phone using a number you look up yourself, not one from the booking site. If you spot a deceptive site, report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to your state's attorney general. Do not rely on the cheapest option you find in a search result.
If this reached you
Source: SF Standard . Scam Sentinel summarizes this news report in plain language; it is a decision aid, not a guarantee.