The FINANCIAL -- Advisor has acted swiftly to put a halt to a scam which could have led to hotels providing free accommodation to a person claiming to represent the online review site.

According to Caterer and Hotelkeeper , a number of hotels had been contacted by someone claiming to be a TripAdvisor employee offering to remove negative reviews in exchange for a hotel stay.

Christine Petersen president, TripAdvisor for Business, immediately wrote to hotels to assure them that the communication was "done illegally and without our permission by a third-party misappropriating the TripAdvisor brand".

It is not known whether any hotels have already hosted anyone in connection with the scam.

A TripAdvisor spokesperson said the matter was being investigated. "We take all allegations of fraud very seriously, no matter what the source, and have a rigorous process to investigate every claim," she said.

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