10 Downing Street listed on Booking.com

It's not been long since we reported security flaws at Booking.com and here we are again, covering more embarrasments for the travel giant.

A fake listing for 10 Downing Street was listed on the website by Which? as part of an experiement to see if it would be accepted, and if it could be reserved. As it turns out, it could - and it wasn't until two months after the original listing that Booking.com cancelled the reservation made by Which? themselves.

The listing for a "1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London" with the famous 10 Downing Street door in the images provided, was only visible for 20 minutes but in that time, 14 people made enquiries.

To be clear, the fault does not lie with the Government on this one - there has already been enough red faces this summer relating to scammers when it comes to them - but Which?'s piece does highlight a genuine flaw in quality control, and demonstrates how genuine fraudsters could set up a fake holiday let on the site, rake in the money from eager holidaymakers and then vanish, especially since Booking.com does not require proof of ID for anyone listing a property until three months after the listing goes live.

Which? claim that fake listings aren't anything new, and it has been consistenly warning of scammers offering holiday homes. However, the consumer group alleges that Booking.com's checks are still lax, as the listing stayed online even after they had been told by Which? what they had done.

A Booking.com spokesperson told the BBC, "This limited test is not a true reflection of the experience of millions of listings or reviews published on our platform", "a range of checks and verification measures" help secure the site, and technologies such as AI "help us detect and remove the majority of fraudulent listings within 24 hours".

Which? argues that their experiment shows that its checks are "unfit for purpose", and that "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".