Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on Tuesday would take aim at online booking scams in which scammers design websites to look exactly like hotel websites to dupe customers.
The Stop Online Booking Scams Act, S. 3402, introduced by Daines and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), would officially recognize the benefits of legitimate booking sites and narrowly target third-party sites that sell hotel reservations.
“Tourism is an important part of Montana’s economy and we need to make sure that folks are getting what was promised to them,” Daines said. “Legitimate online booking sites provide consumers with a valuable tool for comparison shopping, but deceptive websites trick consumers and scam them into paying for reservations that don’t exist.”
Scammers design websites to look exactly like official hotel websites and can include hidden fees, loss of expected loyalty points and confirmation of lodging reservations that were never actually made.
“This bill intends to crackdown on crooks and fraudsters who trick consumers into booking hotel rooms that don’t exist,” Nelson said. “Millions of consumers use the Internet to easily compare prices and find great deals on hotel rooms. We can’t have a few bad actors ruin this for everyone else.”
The bill would make it illegal for a non-affiliated third-party to accept payment from customers unless the seller first discloses that they are not affiliated with the hotel, and it would grant the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general enforcement authority.
“The lodging industry is a major player in Montana’s economy — responsible for, providing $135 million in tax revenue and supporting nearly a billion dollars in total sales throughout the state,” Steve Wahrlich, the chairman of the Montana Lodging & Hospitality Association, said. “Unscrupulous actors that seek to take advantage of unsuspecting travelers jeopardize that. We are grateful to Sen. Daines for recognizing this growing threat and introducing the Stop Online Booking Scams Act with his colleague Sen. Nelson. We look forward to working with them to protect Montana travelers by moving this commonsense legislation through the legislative process.”