Booking.com Security Overlooked Fake Downing Street Listing in Which? Fraud Test
Researchers from the consumer organization Which? created a fraudulent listing on Booking.com offering a one-bedroom apartment at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the UK Prime Minister. The ad featured the precise address, photographs of the famous building, and a description promoting it as "one-bedroom accommodation in the heart of London," just four minutes' walk from Parliament.
The listing went live on 18 June, with booking temporarily enabled for the test. Booking.com processed payment for a week-long stay, yet the funds were not returned to the researcher more than six weeks later. A fake review praising an exceptional stay and interaction with Larry, the official mouser at the residence, passed moderation almost immediately.
Through Booking.com's internal messaging system, the researchers sent an external link requesting bank card details under the pretext of confirming the reservation. Despite the company's claims that its systems block suspicious URLs, no intervention occurred. The listing was finally removed on 27 August.
Which? described the results as evidence of systemic failures and urged UK regulator Ofcom to launch an investigation. Editor of Which? Travel Rory Boland stated that if Booking.com's sophisticated AI cannot recognize that 10 Downing Street is not a holiday home, it is unsurprising that fraudsters exploit the platform so easily.
Booking.com responded that the experiment does not reflect the experience of millions of customers and claimed the listing was never publicly available, meaning certain anti-fraud mechanisms were not activated.
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