Kat Cereda, from consumer expert Which?, said: “You’d like to think that situations like this are incredibly rare, but sadly we hear accounts like this all too often…
“We listed 10 Downing Street as a holiday rental but the platform failed to spot that this was clearly a spoof, so it’s no wonder that… scam listing and phishing attacks are slipping through the net, when such obvious examples failed to raise red flags.
“It’s time for the prime minister to call on Ofcom to use the online safety act to crack down.”
In response to the 10 Downing Street listing, Booking.com said: “This limited test is not a true reflection of the experience of millions of listings or reviews published on our platform.”
They said because the listing by Which? was not “live” on its site across the two months it was present, “some of our automatic fraud controls were not triggered to completely remove the closed listing”.
People could only see the listing and request to book the property during a 20-minute window opened by Which? so its researchers could try to book it.
A government spokesperson said: “The law is crystal clear. Online platforms that fall under the Online Safety Act, including Booking.com, have a legal duty to ensure their sites are not providing a forum for material intended to scam the public and they must remove it where it is found on their sites.
“If platforms fail to protect users from illegal fraudulent content they can face consequences, including fines, and the regulator has all our backing to take action.”
In response, Booking.com reiterated: “All of the impacted listings were removed and customers with future stays contacted and supported, which, depending on their individual circumstances, could mean relocations, refunds or free cancellations.”
