Booking.com scam leaves Exeter holiday-let owner facing fake bookings
An Exeter property manager says a phishing attack on her Booking.com account generated thousands of fake reservations, leaving travellers without accommodation and disrupting genuine bookings. Booking.com said the listings were removed and affected customers offered relocation, refunds or free cancellations while it investigated the incident.
The owner of an Exeter property-management company says a phishing attack on her Booking.com account generated thousands of fake reservations and left travellers without accommodation. Victoria Pollard, who runs Life’s 2 Short with one other employee, said the account was compromised in August. Fake properties were advertised in the company’s name, while genuine reservations were missed because she lost access to her accounts.
Pollard said some affected customers had travelled from overseas and contacted her angrily after discovering that the accommodation they had booked did not exist. She said she received as many as 20 to 30 calls a minute at one point and was dealing with up to 10,000 emails a day, making it difficult to handle legitimate business. She said Booking.com initially told her she could be liable for refunds totalling just over £1m.
Pollard criticised the company’s handling of the incident, saying its employees had not communicated effectively and that a problem she believed could have been stopped quickly had continued for weeks. Booking.com apologised and said its investigation indicated that the accommodation partner was likely the victim of a sophisticated phishing attack by cyber criminals. The company said all affected listings had been removed and customers with future stays were offered relocations, refunds or free cancellations, depending on their circumstances.
Consumer group Which? said the case showed how scam listings and phishing attacks could pass through platform safeguards. Its representative, Kat Cereda, also referred to a separate test involving a fake listing for 10 Downing Street, which Booking.com said was not representative of the experience of most listings.
A government spokesperson said platforms covered by the Online Safety Act had a legal duty to prevent and remove fraudulent content. The spokesperson said platforms could face fines if they failed to protect users, while Booking.com reiterated that it had removed the listings and was supporting affected customers.
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