FAQs | How to spot a scam
Scammers are everywhere – and they’re not always easy to identify. However, understanding how we communicate with our guests can help you tell the difference between a genuine call or email from one of our teams and a potential fraudster.
How can I tell if it’s a genuine call from Whitbread or Premier Inn?
So – is it us? To verify you as a guest, we may ask you to provide certain details like:
- Your full name
- Your reservation number
- Your email address and postcode
- Your hotel name and arrival date
However, our teams would never ask you to reveal online details – especially your password. If you have any doubts, hang up and call our Guest Support team as soon as possible on 0333 003 8101 from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, or follow the guidance over on our contact us page.
How do I know if an email from you is genuine?
Here are some tips to help you identify a spam email from a real one:
- We usually start our emails with “hello” or your name – not “dear sir/madam”
- We’d only request information such as your full name, reservation number, email address, postcode, hotel name and arrival date
- Check the email address of the sender – genuine emails from us should have an address ending with “premierinn.com”
- If we’re getting touch in relation to a payment issue, our team may ask for the last four digits of your payment card, the date of transaction and your card type (i.e., Visa, AMEX, MasterCard, etc)
Remember – our teams would never ask for your full card details, or ask you to re-authenticate. Another top tip is to hover your mouse over any links in the email, which will show you a preview of the true web address. If the preview looks suspicious, don’t click the link!
How do I report suspicious emails
If you’re suspicious about any emails claiming to be from Premier Inn, don’t click on any links and don’t respond – simply forward the email onto us at report.phishing@premierinn.com
We won’t be able to reply to your email directly, but all suspicious emails we receive are shared with a third party for investigation, helping us remove fraudulent websites and accounts as quickly as possible.
Please don’t include any personal information when forwarding emails onto us.
Remember – never click on any attachments or links in an email you think may be fraudulent.
Here’s an example of what a phishing email sent by a scammer may look like (left):
What are your social channels?
We’d only ever recommend contacting our official Premier Inn social media pages – try not to engage with any other accounts. Our official social media channels are:
If you have any doubts about a social media account, don’t click on any links – simply forward the email or link onto us at report.phishing@premierinn.com