Cesenatico – The consumer advocacy group Codacons has filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office in Forlì, accusing the booking portal Booking of failing to conduct adequate checks. The complaint stems from an alleged scam on Booking, through which well over a hundred vacationers in Romagna booked accommodations that never existed at the listed addresses.
The scam was uncovered on Saturday, August 1. In Cesenatico, families with children and luggage were standing in front of a building on Viale Pascoli that housed the offices of an insurance agency instead of the vacation complex they had booked. The listing had initially appeared on the platform as „Residence Da Andrea“ and later as „Residence Angelini.“ It seemed credible in part because the perpetrators used photos of an actual apartment and misused the CIN—the national identification number that providers of short-term rentals in Italy are required to have. About 120 affected guests were relocated to hotels and campgrounds over the weekend; estimates range from about 90 to more than 120 families who were defrauded. A similarly structured case occurred Milano Marittima, and another one in Riccione back in May.
In its brief to the courts, Codacons lists several criminal offenses, including aggravated fraud, computer fraud, unauthorized access to information technology systems, and forgery of documents. The association is calling on investigators to examine whether the platform adequately monitored the published listings and whether it is liable for the damages suffered by vacationers. These are allegations at this stage; nothing has been confirmed yet. Booking has not commented publicly on the matter in detail. Those who booked and paid through the portal were provided with alternative accommodations. The outlook is bleaker for those who sent the payment directly via bank transfer to an account belonging to the alleged perpetrators. One vacationer was told over the phone that her money had long since ended up in Lithuania and that she was already the twentieth victim.
How to Avoid Fraud on Booking
A few minutes of research before booking can help. You can verify the listed address using a map service with street view: Is there really a hotel or vacation resort there? You can cross-check the photos in the listing using a reverse image search; they often come from real estate listings. Also suspicious are places without their own website, without a landline number, and with very few, very recent reviews. If you’re unsure, call the local tourism office; municipalities maintain a list of registered businesses. A price significantly below the local average during peak season is rarely a bargain.
The payment method is just as important. If a supposed host asks you to leave the platform and pay via bank transfer, a messaging app link, or a voucher code, you should cancel the booking. Credit card payments or payments made through the platform can be refunded in the event of a dispute, but bank transfers practically never can. Anyone who falls for this scam should immediately file a report with the police or the Carabinieri, notify the platform, ask the bank to reverse the transaction, and contact a consumer protection organization. In Cesenatico, the local municipality also helped in finding alternative accommodations.
