A London pub has been forced to turn up to 20 tourists every day after Booking.com allegedly ignored complaints holidaymakers were being scammed by fake listings.
Wetherspoons staff at The Liberty Bounds near Tower Bridge have been forced to send holidaymakers away after fraudsters advertised their address as a “block of luxury apartments”, according to Which?.
The watchdog warned that it was able to create a false advertisement for 10 Downing Street on the website after receiving reports of fake listings plaguing the platform.
Loughbrough resident Paul Dawson, 55, had booked a one-night stay at the The London Crown apartments with his family in August.
After booking the accommodation, he received an email from The London Crown containing a link to a fake Booking.com page, which asked for his bank details.
The 55-year-old said he contacted the platform after growing suspicious, but he was told he would need to physically go to the fake apartment and wait until 7pm before they could arrange alternative accommodation.
Mr Dawson said they advised him to turn up at the address even after he found out the address would have taken him to the Wetherspoons pub.
He told Which?: “I explained to the support staff that I had autistic children and the idea of turning up at a clearly non-existent property at 10.30pm would have been catastrophic.
Staff at the Liberty Bounds had had to send tourists away after fraudsters advertised their address as a ‘block of luxury apartments’
|
“This did not change their response that I needed to go to the property.
“They said that if it was not possible to check in then I could contact them again and they would find an alternative.”
The fake listing was still being advertised on September 23, despite receiving more than 250 negative reviews from August and September.
The watchdog said a number of the positive reviews left for the property appeared to be suspicious.
Furious holidaymakers had commented that they had reported the listing as fake, but were ignored by Booking.com.
LONDON – READ THE LATEST:
Furious holidaymakers had commented that they had reported the listing as fake, but were ignored by Booking.com
|
GETTY
One customer raged: “I reported it to Booking.com three days before check-in but they refused to do anything.”
Meanwhile, a Spanish holidaymaker said the scam had left her and a friend “alone in London at two o’clock in the morning with no accommodation”.
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Not only does Booking.com refuse to take scams seriously, but its requirement that guests turn up to properties, even when it has been advised the property doesn’t exist, is utterly reckless. It’s frightening, humiliating and risks people’s safety.
“Instead of taking action when fraudulent listings are reported, Booking.com prefers to let its customers bear the financial and safety risks.
“Ofcom must show it will use its powers to get tough with irresponsible online platforms that leave consumers wide open to fraud.”
Ofcom has been urged to ‘show it will use its powers to get tough with irresponsible online platforms’
|
PAA spokesman for Booking.com said a “sophisticated phishing attack” was behind the fake listing.
They added: “The attack affected the properties’ own computer systems and gave cybercriminals temporary, unauthorised access to the accommodation’s Booking.com account.
“We take incidents like this extremely seriously, and suspended bookings at both properties, as well as supporting affected customers.”
An Ofcom spokesman said: “Fraud online can have serious consequences for victims and platforms have clear legal duties to take down illegal content generated by users once they become aware of it.
“More broadly, we’ve shown that we’ll use our enforcement powers against platforms that fail to comply with the Online Safety Act, and have already launched investigations into over 100 sites.”
Leave a Reply