York's Star Inn the City restaurant falls victim to reservation phishing scam

York’s Star Inn the City started contacting all customers and recent bookings and the online reservation platform Open Table as soon as the scam became apparent last Thursday.

The fraud was immediately reported to the police and relevant authorities.

Restaurateur Andrew Pern said calls from the scammers were “quite convincing”, with the fraudsters having details of the bookings.

He said: “If you are called by anyone claiming to be Open Table and The Star Inn The City asking for card details, please under no circumstances give out these details.

"We will never call you and ask for your card details over the phone.”

Mr Pern said staff had been calling and emailing customers and recent bookings to warn them of the scam.

He said: “All customers’ full card details are stored securely through Stripe which is separate to Open Table and have not been affected by this scam. The scam, which compromised the restaurant’s booking system, was rapidly closed."

Customers have been warned that one of the telephone numbers used by the scammers, 01904 619308, is not the restaurant’s number but very similar to the real one of 01904 619208.

“The calls are quite convincing, with customer names, booking times and number in the party, plus the last four digits of customers,” said Mr Pern.

“This is something that none of us needed just before Christmas with customers looking forward to putting firmly 2022 behind them and feels like an invasion of privacy, all our customers and us included.”

The attack appears to be part of an industry-wide increase in third-party phishing scams posing as online booking sites, including Open Table, which works with 60,000 restaurants around the country.​​​​​​​​​​

The 130-cover restaurant, Mr Pern’s second restaurant, opened in an old brick-built engine house York’s Museum Gardens in 2013.

It is part of the Star Group of Restaurants, which includes the Michelin starred The Star at Harome, The Winter Hütte, York, and the new Refectory Restaurant, which is due to open at York Minster in 2023.