Fake Booking Sites Targeting Georgia Tourists
Fraudulent accommodation and tour booking websites target travellers to Georgia with fake reservations for guesthouses, tours, and transport.
Part of: Fake Booking Sites
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Georgia has become an increasingly popular tourist destination, drawing visitors to Tbilisi, Kazbegi, Kakheti wine country, and the Black Sea coast. This tourism boom has attracted fake booking sites that imitate established platforms or invent plausible Georgia-travel portals, collecting payments for accommodation and guided tours that were never booked.
International travellers researching Georgia from abroad — particularly through search engines and social media travel groups — are the primary targets. Scams range from simple ghost-listing operations to sites with elaborate designs and fabricated review sections.
How this scam works on Georgia
A traveller searching for guesthouses in Kazbegi or wine tours in Kakheti clicks a paid search advertisement leading to a convincing booking website. Payment is made by card or bank transfer. A booking confirmation arrives, but the property either does not exist or has no record of the reservation.
Some operations copy real Georgian guesthouses' photos and names without authorisation, creating near-identical fake listings. Others invent entirely fictional properties with Georgian-sounding names and fabricated reviews.
Tour-booking scams specifically target multi-day itineraries — Tbilisi to Kazbegi or wine-region tours — where upfront full payment is standard, making the loss significant.
Common red flags
- The booking website URL differs slightly from a known platform.
- Prices are substantially below comparable options on verified platforms.
- Payment by bank transfer is required rather than a card gateway.
- The confirmation email comes from a free email domain.
- Customer service is only reachable via WhatsApp rather than a business phone.
How to protect yourself
- Book through well-known platforms with buyer protection or directly through properties you have verified via independent phone search.
- Pay by credit card for chargeback protection wherever possible.
- Call the property directly before travel using a number from an independent source.
- Screenshot all booking confirmations and correspondence before departure.
- Verify tour operators on the Georgian National Tourism Administration register.
How to report it
- Report to Georgian Police and the Georgian National Tourism Administration.
- Contact your card issuer immediately for a chargeback if payment was by card.
- Report the fraudulent site to its domain registrar and to Google Safe Browsing.
Frequently asked questions
I paid a wine-tour operator in Kakheti a large upfront deposit through a fake site — can I get it back?
Contact your card issuer immediately to dispute the charge if paid by card, since chargeback protection is one of the strongest recovery routes for services never received. If paid by bank transfer, contact your bank about a recall and report to Georgian Police.
The fake site had fabricated five-star reviews — how can I tell real reviews from fake ones?
Cross-check reviews on independent platforms like Google Maps or Tripadvisor rather than trusting testimonials shown only on the booking site itself. A property with no independent review history elsewhere is a meaningful warning sign.
Is it safer to book Georgia tours through a well-known international platform than a dedicated Georgia travel site?
Generally, established international platforms with buyer protection offer more recourse if something goes wrong, compared to smaller independent sites you can't easily verify. If booking directly with a smaller Georgian operator, verify them against the National Tourism Administration register first.
How do I verify a Georgian guesthouse booking?
Call the guesthouse directly on a number you find independently — not from the booking confirmation. Confirm your name, dates, and room type with a real staff member.