Belgian Family Scammed Twice by Booking.com Ghost Listings

A five-member Belgian family on holiday in Italy was scammed twice in a single day through fake “ghost” property listings on Booking.com, part of a large-scale fraud that has affected at least 120 families across the Adriatic coast. The family arrived at their booked vacation property in Cesenatico on Monday, August 3, only to discover it did not exist.

A Vacation Turned Nightmare

The family had booked a property called ‘Residence Da Andrea’ in Via Giovanni Pascoli in Cesenatico, a popular seaside resort on Italy’s Adriatic coast. After a long car journey, they arrived at the address expecting to find their vacation accommodation. Instead, they found the offices of an insurance company.

“It was a heavy blow. There was no vacation accommodation at all,” the father told the Italian newspaper Il Resto del Carlino, as reported by Het Laatste Nieuws.

In panic and exhaustion, the family immediately searched for an alternative on the same Booking.com platform. They found what appeared to be an affordable apartment in the nearby seaside town of Cervia (Milano Marittima), booked it, and drove there. But this second property also turned out to be non-existent. The family had been scammed twice within hours.

A Sophisticated Fraud Scheme

The Belgian family is among the victims of a professionally organized scam operation. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the fraudsters used real photographs of an apartment that was actually for sale in the same street, making the listings appear credible. They also used national identification codes (CIN) belonging to legitimate accommodation facilities to make the listings seem valid.

The listings offered weekly stays for under €800 in high season — 50 to 60 percent below market rates, according to Cesenatico Mayor Matteo Gozzoli. Victims were required to pay deposits in advance to a bank account in the name of ‘Andrea Angelini,’ a likely false identity. When some victims called the phone number from the advertisement, it was forwarded to the call center of an unsuspecting hotel in the area.

In one chilling exchange reported by Il Messaggero, scammers told a victim: “You are the twentieth we’ve scammed this week. Go ahead and report us, your money is already in Lithuania.”

Municipal Response and Legal Action

The municipality of Cesenatico had to accommodate dozens of stranded families. Through the tourism office, they offered the affected Belgian family an affordable room until August 10. “Finally we are on vacation,” the relieved father told Il Resto del Carlino.

Mayor Matteo Gozzoli has filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office because the fraud has seriously damaged the tourist reputation of his city. He has warned tourists to be “extremely careful with prices that are too low and to always check reviews before paying.” Multiple suspects are reportedly under investigation, and the municipality has said it will join any legal proceedings as a civil party for damage to its image.

The scam has also been discovered in Milano Marittima, where a Milanese tourist paid a €170 deposit for the non-existent ‘Residence Ferrino’ — a listing connected to the same ‘Andrea Angelini’ name used in Cesenatico, as TGCOM24 reported.

Broader Concerns About Booking Platform Security

The Cesenatico case is part of a wider pattern of online booking fraud. Cybercriminals have been targeting hotels’ extranet credentials through phishing emails, then using compromised accounts to message guests directly with fraudulent payment requests. Consumer groups report losses exceeding €1,500 per fraudulent transaction, and Euroconsumers — which includes Test Achat in Belgium — has filed a complaint with the Dutch privacy regulator over GDPR violations related to these scams, according to Cyber Guru.

Booking.com was not available for comment on the large-scale fraud at the time of reporting.

What to Watch For

As investigations continue, authorities urge travelers to be vigilant when booking accommodations online. Red flags include prices significantly below market rates, requests for payment outside the platform’s protected systems, and listings with few or no reviews. The case raises important questions about how such listings managed to pass Booking.com’s verification processes and remain active until the first complaints arrived.

For the Belgian family, the ordeal has finally taken a positive turn — they are now on vacation, thanks to the solidarity of the Cesenatico community. But for the more than 120 families affected by this scam, the questions of compensation and accountability remain open.