PHISHING INFORMATION | HARDENBERG BURGHOTEL
Notice Regarding Important Phishing Messages Related to Hotel Bookings
Have you received a suspicious message via WhatsApp, SMS or email relating to your hotel booking? If so, we would like to inform you transparently through this channel.
What happened?
An external service provider through which bookings for our hotel are processed has informed us of unauthorized access to booking data. According to current knowledge, the data leak occurred exclusively within this service provider’s system and not within our hotel’s systems.
The service provider states that it closed the security gap immediately and introduced additional protective measures. In line with legal requirements, the incident was reported to the competent data protection supervisory authority. Together with our system partner, we are working to fully clarify the matter and to take further measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Which data was affected?
The following booking data may have been affected:
- Hotel name and booking number
- Guest’s name and contact details (including telephone number)
- Arrival and departure dates
- Total booking amount
There is no indication of a leak of credit card or other payment data.
How can you recognize fraud attempts?
Please be especially cautious with messages that allegedly come from our hotel or our booking partners. Typical signs include:
- Urgent action is feigned, e.g. immediate confirmation of the booking or payment.
- You are asked to submit credit card, bank account or other sensitive data via link or message.
- The message contains unusual links that do not point to the official website of the hotel or the booking provider.
- The sender uses an unknown phone number or a conspicuous spelling.
- The message contains language errors or seems unprofessional.
- You are threatened with cancellation of the booking or additional costs if you do not respond immediately.
Our recommendations
- Do not click on suspicious links.
- Do not share payment or login details via WhatsApp, SMS or email.
- Always verify booking requests through the official communication channels of the hotel or the booking portal.
- If you have already responded to such a message or submitted data, please inform your bank or credit card provider immediately and change your login details if necessary.
Your contact person
Have you received a suspicious message or do you have questions about this incident? Please contact our data protection officer directly:
FREIGEIST & FRIENDS
Email: datenschutz@freigeist-friends.com
We sincerely regret this incident and apologize for any uncertainty it may have caused. The protection of your data and the trust of our guests are our highest priority.
Freigeist & Friends GmbH & Co. KG is represented by:
Managing Director Georg Rosentreter
