The European Commission launched a formal investigation into Booking.com yesterday to determine whether the platform has breached the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to adequately protect consumers from online scams.
The investigation focuses on fake accommodation listings and booking hijacking, whereby scammers use compromised reservation data to impersonate hotel staff and demand additional payments via WhatsApp or Booking.com itself, supposedly to confirm bookings. The Commission is also examining whether the platform adequately labels as advertisements accommodation listings that receive preferential placement in search results in exchange for higher commissions.
Booking.com reported in 2024 that scams on its platform had increased by 500%–900% over an 18-month period.
Figures from Dutch consumer organisation Consumentenbond illustrate the scale of the problem. The organisation recorded 200 fraud reports involving Booking.com in 2025, with total losses of €65,000, compared with 89 reports and €25,000 in losses in 2024. Booking.com also reported in 2024 that fraud incidents had increased by 500%–900% over 18 months, linking the rise to the proliferation of generative AI tools.
An EU official described the existing safeguards as “completely inadequate”. Booking.com says it is cooperating with authorities and prioritises user safety. If found to have violated the DSA, the company could face a fine of up to 6% of its annual global turnover.
Source: The Guardian
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