Holiday lets owner 'devastated' by phishing scam
Victoria Pollard, owner of the Exeter-based holiday let company Life's 2 Short, was left devastated after a sophisticated phishing attack led to thousands of fake property reservations on Booking.com. The incident caused her to lose access to her accounts, resulting in missed genuine bookings and an influx of angry calls from overseas guests who were left without accommodation. While Booking.com apologized and offered refunds or relocations, Pollard criticized the platform's slow response and internal communication failures, which she described as 'carnage'.
- ▪A phishing attack compromised the Booking.com account of Life's 2 Short, leading to thousands of fake reservations for non-existent properties.
- ▪Victoria Pollard reported receiving up to 30 calls per minute and 10,000 emails daily, forcing her to put her phone in airplane mode to manage the crisis.
- ▪Booking.com initially indicated that Pollard might be liable for over £1 million in refunds before offering support such as relocations and free cancellations.
- ▪Consumer expert Which? highlighted that the platform failed to detect a spoof listing for 10 Downing Street, suggesting a broader failure in fraud detection systems.
- ▪A government spokesperson stated that online platforms have a legal duty under the Online Safety Act to remove fraudulent content and face fines if they fail to do so.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgqdj119vlgo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Thu, 01 Oct 2026 05:18:50 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-10-01T07:57:31.194Z |
| Last seen | 2026-10-01T07:57:31.194Z |
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| Cluster | T8yG_L1yec2W · 1 stories |
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Holiday lets owner 'devastated' by phishing scamImage source, Lousie MayImage caption, Victoria Pollard, who runs Exeter-based Life's 2 Short, said she was inundated with angry calls after her Booking.com account was hackedByNatalie CornahDevonPublished1 hour agoThe owner of a small holiday let company said she was "devastated and exhausted" after thousands of fake property reservations were advertised in her company's name on Booking.com.Victoria Pollard, who runs Exeter-based Life's 2 Short, said some of those who made the bookings had travelled from overseas and were left with nowhere to stay.The 46-year-old said the phishing attack left her with no access to her accounts in August causing genuine reservations to be missed.Booking.com has apologised, saying it was offering its "full…
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