Hotel hacker paid 1 cent for luxury rooms, Spanish cops say

""This cyberattack was specifically designed to alter the payment validation system, and this is the first time we have detected a crime using this method," Spain's National Police told media outlets. The man, a 20-year-old Spanish national, was arrested while staying at a Madrid hotel with a four-night reservation that carried a €4,000 ($4,716) price tag - unless you hacked the payment system, as this fraudster did."

"Days later, however, when the site transferred the actual amount paid to the hotel, the payment-validation scam surfaced, indicating that the crook paid just one cent for rooms costing €1,000 ($1,179) per night. Adding insult to injury, police said that the man also consumed mini-bar bottles and sometimes left those bills unpaid, too. While he may be facing a free stay at a mini-bar free, unluxurious facility for his alleged crimes, we have an idea for his next big vacay, post-prison: an inflatable moon hotel."

Spanish police arrested a 20-year-old national accused of manipulating an online hotel booking site's payment validation to pay one cent for luxury stays. The suspect booked and stayed multiple times, including a four-night Madrid reservation with a €4,000 tag, generating more than €20,000 in losses for hotels. The booking site initially recorded full payments, but transfers later revealed the true amounts were one cent for rooms worth about €1,000 per night. Investigators say the scheme altered payment validation. The suspect also consumed mini-bar items and sometimes left those bills unpaid.

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