Some smart guys have found a way to make a lot of money in record time in Italy. A group of scammers managed to hack the Booking profile of Selvole Castle, located in the Chianti region of Tuscany, to turn it into a fictitious “dream apartment” supposedly a stone’s throw from the Colosseum in Rome, reveals the “Corriere della Sera”.
By taking control of the castle’s Booking profile, the hackers were able to change the location of the establishment and scam hundreds of tourists. Between 150 and 200 people per day booked a stay in Rome in accommodation that did not exist. At least, not in the Italian capital.
This scam proved to be extremely lucrative. The crooks pocketed 224,000 euros in June, 140,000 euros in July and 13,000 euros during the first days of August, again according to information from the Italian daily.
The real owners of Selvole Castle found out about it as they began to receive requests from clients regarding the exact location of the castle and its distance from Rome. They then discovered the problem by consulting the Booking profile of their establishment.
Booking claims its commission
The craziest thing in this story? Booking demands its commission from owners for false rentals. The amount amounts to 108,000 euros. And this is not the only financial loss suffered by the couple.
“All real reservations have been canceled. We had never found ourselves without any customers in August. Added to this are the negative reviews, which obviously appeared, the owners explained to “Corriere della Sera”. We learned that we were not the only victims of this type of scam in Tuscany, but these cases often go unreported.”
As for the scammers, the Italian daily does not specify whether they have been arrested or whether they continue to operate through other scams.
