// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Holiday lets owner 'devastated' by phishing scam
Victoria Pollard, who runs Exeter-based Life's 2 Short, said she was inundated with angry calls after her Booking.com account was hacked
The owner of a small property management firm 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 had 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 support" to Pollard. It added all impacted listings were removed and customers offered "relocations, refunds or free cancellations".
"We are sorry to hear about this accommodation partner's experience," it said.
"Our investigation indicates the accommodation was likely the victim of a sophisticated phishing attack by cyber criminals, which affected their own computer systems and led to temporary unauthorised access to the accommodation partner's Booking.com account."
Pollard, whose business only employs one other person, said she had received "horrendous" abuse online from disappointed guests who thought she was responsible for the fake reservations for properties that did not exist.
She explained they were "calling us all the names under the sun, saying we have ruined their life and their holiday, as they have booked their flights and have nowhere to stay".
She said she had been forced to put her phone into airplane mode because she was receiving "20 to 30 calls a minute" at one point and had spent up to 12 hours a day working to resolve the problem.