Lack of ‘proper checks’ is leaving Booking.com ‘wide open to scammers’, Which? warns

A ‘lack of effective checks’ is leaving Booking.com ‘wide open to fraudsters’, according to an investigation by Which?.

As a result of the probe, the consumer champion is calling for the platform, the most visited travel and tourism website worldwide, to do more to prevent fraud on its site ahead of the Online Safety Act illegal harm codes coming into effect later this month.

Which? investigators found that Booking.com operates an ‘easily hacked messaging system’, that it has ‘failed to remove scam listings’ and that a ‘lack of identity checks on property owners is leaving holidaymakers unnecessarily exposed’.

Which? said it was able to list a holiday home on Booking.com in less than 15 minutes and – unlike on Vrbo or Airbnb – Booking.com did not ask to see a driving licence or passport.

Which? said: ‘This lack of proper identity checks has led to a deluge of dodgy listings on the platform. When we searched Booking.com reviews for the word “scam” in summer 2024, [we] found hundreds of…