British consumer rights organization Which? recently discovered a potential vulnerability in the Booking.com hotel booking platform’s listing verification process. Researchers successfully created a fake listing on the platform using the name “10 Downing Street,” the official residence of the British Prime Minister, and even completed a booking and left a fake review. Which? stated that the listing was only removed two months after being uploaded, questioning the platform’s anti-fraud mechanism’s failure to promptly identify obviously false information.
According to Hong Kong 01, a Booking.com spokesperson responded to the BBC, stating that this limited test does not reflect the actual situation of the platform’s millions of listings and reviews. Regarding the Which? test, the platform stated that the relevant listing was not “officially online” during the two-month display period, therefore some of the automatic anti-fraud mechanisms were not activated, failing to completely remove the closed listing.