• Man hacksed booking sites to get luxury rooms for one cent
• He exploited payment system flaw, causing losses over €20,000

Spanish police arrested a 20-year-old man for allegedly hacking a booking website to reserve luxury rooms for just one cent, marking the first cybercrime of its kind in the country.

Authorities said the suspect manipulated the site’s electronic payment system, making bookings appear fully paid while only a symbolic one cent was charged for rooms costing up to €1,000 ($1,200) per night.

The Spanish National Police added that the cyberattack specifically targeted the payment validation system, noting this is the first case detected using this method.

Police also said the man consumed minibar items during his stays and sometimes left bills unpaid. At the time of his arrest, he was staying at a luxury Madrid hotel with a four-night reservation totaling €4,000.

The suspect had stayed at the hotel multiple times previously, causing losses exceeding €20,000. The investigation began after the booking site reported suspicious activity earlier this month. Transactions initially appeared completed normally, but the irregularity was discovered days later when the payment platform transferred the actual amounts owed to the affected company.