Booking.com faces EU investigation over scams and hidden ads

EU investigators will examine whether the short-term rental platform adequately blocks fake stays and payment scams.(CN) — A hotel booking may be real, but the payment request may not, and EU regulators want to know whether Booking.com has done enough to protect travelers.The European Commission opened a formal investigation Wednesday into fake accommodation listings, scams exploiting reservation data and inadequately labeled advertisements on Booking.com. It will assess whether the platform met its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the EU’s platform safety law.Investigators will examine how guest and reservation details reach accommodation providers and whether the messaging service sufficiently guarded against fraudulent payment requests. They will also scrutinize efforts to identify and remove nonexistent properties, impersonators and accommodation offers that broke the rules.Properties can pay higher commissions for better placement in search results. The commission said travelers should be able to recognize those listings as advertisements, see who paid and understand why they appeared.Before opening proceedings, officials reviewed four years of risk assessments, transparency reports and responses to information requests sent in September 2025 and May 2026. They have not established a breach.“Europeans should be able to book their holidays without fear of being scammed. The Digital Services Act sets clear responsibilities on platforms to address these risks, and we must ensure that the leading booking platform in Europe takes those responsibilities seriously,” said Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.Travelers had reported both kinds of fraud well before the investigation. In an April 2024 warning, Lloyds Bank described scammers posing as hotels through Booking.com’s app to request extra payments or financial details. One customer featured in the warning lost 534 pounds (about $715) after booking through the platform and being told to pay more by bank transfer or lose her room. When she arrived, there was no hotel at the address.A spokesperson from Booking.com said the company was cooperating fully with investigators. “Security, trust and the protection of personal information are top priorities at Booking.com,” the spokesperson said. The company described working with authorities and industry partners, educating travelers and accommodation providers and warning about WhatsApp phishing and payment requests inconsistent with booking details.The spokesperson also cited mandatory two-factor authentication for partner accounts, malicious-link blocking and artificial intelligence to intercept fraud. In-house systems blocked 14 million fraudulent transaction attempts before they reached partners last year, up 22%, the spokesperson said.Agustín Reyna, director general of the European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, welcomed the Booking.com investigation but warned that fraudsters were reaching millions of Europeans daily, putting hundreds or thousands of euros at risk. He described the problem as systemic and called for urgent action: “At a time when people across Europe are bombarded with fraudulent content online, companies must urgently abide by the rules and clean up the financial scams circulating on their platforms.”The commission did not respond to a request for comment.Investigators will gather more evidence through information requests, interviews or inspections. The commission could order interim measures, issue a finding of noncompliance or accept commitments from Booking.com to remedy the problems under investigation. Whether the platform broke the rules remains to be decided.Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads