Booking.com Hotel Rating Task Scam: Telegram Jobs

A task scam that spreads through Facebook ads and opens with the line "earn money by rating hotels" is collecting users in Türkiye by using the name and images of the Booking.com brand without permission. A person who clicks the ad is sent straight to Telegram; one of the accounts identified operates under the username @bookingmerve13232. Booking.com has no programme that employs people to review or rate hotels; the company recruits only through its official career channels and does not make job offers through unsolicited messages. Booking.com has no connection with this scheme; its name is being misused.

🚩 How the Scheme Works

This operation uses the classic "complete tasks and earn" model (task scam) and moves in four stages:

• Contact: A short pitch starts with a social media ad or an unsolicited message, followed by a move to Telegram.
• Warm-up tasks: The person is asked to rate hotel links that are sent to them and to send screenshots. At this stage they are passed on to a "manager" account.
• Small payment: The reward for the first tasks is actually paid into the account. The aim is not to provide earnings but to build trust and to produce proof that the system works.
• The real trap: The user is added to a Telegram "work group". From here on, upfront payments, deposits or account upgrades are demanded for "premium task packages" with higher earnings. The amounts paid in do not come back.

🔍 The Real Goal Behind the Task

Money is not the only thing collected in this scheme. Throughout the process the person is asked for their full name, identity details, bank card and account information, and at times verification codes; making the first payment is also tied to providing this information. Because captured account details can be used as intermediary accounts to move money collected from other victims, the person is drawn into the flow of funds without realising it. The price of the information handed over for a small "earning" is often far higher than the amount deposited.

The scheme is built on Booking.com because of the brand's recognition. When users see the name of a well-known international platform, their threshold for questioning drops. The real Booking.com has no relationship with this operation; the brand name is used only to borrow trust.

🛡️ Telltale Signs

• A well-known brand does not recruit through Telegram or WhatsApp; any offer outside the official career page is fake.
• No "task" that involves no real work, or that promises pay out of proportion to the effort, is genuine.
• A job that is said to make you money but asks for money from you first is, by definition, fraud.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions