"Dream - The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) reported incidents of Google Business account hacks affecting several hotel managers in Indonesia. PHRI Chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani stated that the hacking occurred on Sunday, August 11, 2024, in various regions across Indonesia such as West Sumatra, Bali, Jakarta, and East Java."

Hariyadi conveyed that the hacking modus on the Google business account was carried out by changing the contact number to the WhatsApp (WA) number of the perpetrator. The perpetrator also changed the bank account number and other information related to reservations or room bookings. "To make it appealing, the modus operandi is to sell the room at a low price so that people are tempted to transfer (through text) on WA," added Hariyadi.

"Hariyadi urges all prospective customers who wish to make hotel reservations to directly contact the official channels of the hotel they want to book in order to avoid fraud. The payment process must also be conducted through the hotel's official account. The hacking of this Google business account has also been confirmed by several Regional Leadership Bodies of PHRI. According to reports received by the Central Management Board (BPP) of PHRI, a total of 18 hotels in Central Sulawesi and 60 hotels in West Sumatra have been affected by the hacking."

"Even, the Secretary of the Regional Leadership Board (BPD) of PHRI Central Java, Yantie Yulianti, stated that out of 127 hotels that are members of PHRI in her area, 10 of them have become victims. "Out of the total members affected, 127 hotels. The ones that have reported payment issues are only 10 hotels. Transfers have already been made to the BNI account," said Yantie at the meeting held by BPP PHRI both offline and online."

"Yantie said that several potential consumers at those hotels suffered losses due to receiving WhatsApp messages to immediately transfer money to a bank account under the name of the respective hotel. However, she admitted that the amount of the loss was not significant. "It's small (the value of the loss). For now, it's small. How much is the room rate anyway, we checked yesterday from the historical data, it's not much," she added."