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Consumer organization Which? has revealed that it successfully created a fraudulent listing for 10 Downing Street on the popular travel website Booking.com. The investigation demonstrated that researchers from the UK watchdog were able to make a fake booking for the prime minister’s official residence and even left a humorous review highlighting “hanging out” with Larry the cat, the famous resident mouser.
Despite obvious signs indicating the listing was fake, Booking.com only removed it two months after it had been posted. A spokesperson from the travel giant told the BBC that the test conducted by Which? was not representative of the millions of legitimate listings and reviews handled by the platform. They explained that because the listing was not “live” throughout the two-month period, certain automatic fraud detection systems were not fully activated to eliminate it sooner. Access to the listing—and the ability to request a booking—was limited to a 20-minute window specifically opened by Which? for the purpose of their experiment.
Booking.com’s representative also emphasized the security measures they have in place, including a variety of verification processes and AI technology designed to identify and remove fraudulent listings within 24 hours. However, Rory Boland, Travel editor at Which?, criticized these protections as inadequate. He said, “If Booking.com’s so-called sophisticated AI systems can’t spot that 10 Downing Street is not a holiday rental, then it’s no wonder scammers can exploit the platform so easily.” He added that while the situation might seem amusing, it poses serious risks to holidaymakers who could lose substantial sums of money to similar scams.
During the brief window where the fake listing was open for booking requests, 14 people attempted to reserve the property, though only the booking from a known Which? researcher was accepted. The team also sent a message within the Booking.com system asking the researcher to verify payment details by clicking an external link—something typically blocked by legitimate booking sites to prevent fraud. In this case, though, Booking.com did not flag or remove the suspicious link. The company noted that it provides visible warnings advising users not to click on uncertain links, along with payment guidance in booking confirmations. The fake review left by Which?, despite its comedic nature, also passed Booking.com’s usual checks and was only taken down when the listing was ultimately removed on 27 August
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