{
  "id": 15949092,
  "title": "Booking.com targeted in EU investigation into phishing scams, fraudulent listings",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/booking-com-targeted-in-eu-investigation-into-phishing-scams-15949092",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-21T20:53:12.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40445384/bookingcom-targeted-in-eu-investigation-into-phishing-scams-fraudulent-listings"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The European Commission has announced an investigation into online hotel reservation website Booking.com, according to a statement released on Wednesday. The probe will examine whether the platform is taking adequate measures to eliminate fraudulent listings, phishing scams, and other forms of illegal content in accordance with EU online content rules.\n\nThe EU tech and competition enforcer, the European Commission, initiated the investigation following a preliminary probe and after examining risk assessment reports submitted by Booking.com for the past three years. Under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, large online platforms are mandated to combat illegal and harmful content on their sites, or face fines of up to 6% of their global annual turnover for violations.\n\nThe EU investigation's scope will encompass fake listings, such as non-existent properties, impersonation fraud, and non-compliant accommodation offers. Additionally, regulators will scrutinize whether Booking.com has adequately identified, assessed, and mitigated the systemic risks associated with these issues. Another aspect of the probe will involve phishing scams that exploit Booking.com's reservation and guest data shared with accommodation providers. Lastly, the Commission will assess paid-for boosted listings that are not clearly distinguishable as advertisements.\n\nBooking.com is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings. Henna Virkkunen, the EU tech chief, emphasized in a statement that Europeans should be able to book their holidays without fear of becoming victims of scams. She added, \"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.\"",
  "summary": "BRUSSELS: EU tech regulators will investigate whether online hotel reservation website Booking.com is doing enough to weed out fraudulent listings and phishing scams to comply with EU online content rules, the European Commission said on Wednesday. The Commission, which is the EU tech and competition enforcer, said it opened an investigation following a preliminary probe and after analysing risk…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CNA - Business",
        "title": "Booking.com targeted in EU investigation into phishing scams, fraudulent listings",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/booking-com-targeted-in-eu-investigation-into-phishing-scams",
        "published": "2026-10-21T10:02:31.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Economic Times Tech",
        "title": "Booking.com targeted in EU investigation into phishing scams, fraudulent listings",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/booking-com-targeted-in-eu-investigation-into-phishing-scams-15877365",
        "published": "2026-10-21T11:07:46.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "The EU Commission launches a DSA probe into Booking Holdings' Booking.com to determine whether it is doing enough to combat fraudulent listings and phishing (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/the-eu-commission-launches-a-dsa-probe-into-booking-holdings-booking",
        "published": "2026-10-21T11:50:27.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euronews",
        "title": "EU probes whether Booking.com is doing enough to tackle fake listings and phishing scams",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/eu-probes-whether-booking-com-is-doing-enough-to-tackle-fake-listings",
        "published": "2026-10-21T12:12:34.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Le Monde English",
        "title": "EU investigates Booking.com over online fraud and phishing risks",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/eu-investigates-booking-com-over-online-fraud-and-phishing-risks",
        "published": "2026-10-21T13:12:39.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}