Consumer advocacy group Which? has publicly criticized accommodation platform Booking.com after successfully publishing a fraudulent listing for 10 Downing Street. Researchers from the watchdog demonstrated that the UK prime minister's official residence could be put up for rent on the site, highlighting what they termed significant safety gaps in the platform's fraud detection capabilities.
The bogus property appeared on the platform as a one-bedroom apartment situated centrally in London. The advertisement utilized photographs of the iconic black front door of Number 10, specified the authentic street address, and noted its proximity to landmarks like Big Ben. Investigators even managed to publish a fabricated review joking about spending time with Larry the resident cat.
According to Which?, the deceptive listing remained accessible in the system for more than two months before being taken down. During a brief 20-minute window when researchers made the property visible for booking requests, 14 users attempted to reserve the government address. Only a reservation attempt made by a member of the research team was ultimately accepted by the authors of the test.
Furthermore, the watchdog's team successfully sent a message containing an external link through the platform's internal chat system to request payment verification details. Consumer safety advocates typically flag such external links as potential phishing vectors, yet Booking.com's system failed to block the transmission or trigger safety alerts. The satirical review also cleared the platform's moderation checks without issue.
Representatives for Booking.com defended the platform, explaining that the listing was not publicly live for the duration of the two-month period, which prevented automated security measures from fully executing a removal. The company noted that because the property remained closed most of the time, some fraud controls did not trigger.
The travel firm emphasized that it relies on advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, to intercept the vast majority of malicious listings within a day. Company officials stated that fraud is a widespread issue affecting multiple sectors and noted that they continually refine their protective measures to counter increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics.
Industry experts, however, argue that these safeguards are inadequate. Representatives for Which? asserted that failing to recognize the UK's most famous political address as an impossible holiday rental proves the current verification protocols are failing consumers. The organization called for stronger regulatory oversight, suggesting that platforms should face stricter enforcement under the Online Safety Act to guarantee the rapid elimination of fraudulent content.
Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC News. Read the original report at BBC News.
