Spanish police arrest hacker who booked luxurious motels for one cent

Spanish police mentioned on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) they’d arrested a 20-year-old man who allegedly hacked a lodge reserving web site to order luxurious rooms for as little as one cent, within the first recognized cybercrime of its type.

The suspect is believed to have manipulated the positioning’s fee system, altering the validation means of an digital fee platform in order that bookings appeared totally paid.

However solely a minimal quantity — one cent — was really charged for rooms costing as much as 1,000 euros ($1,200) an evening.

“This cyberattack was particularly designed to change the fee validation system, and that is the primary time we’ve detected against the law utilizing this methodology,” Spain’s Nationwide Police mentioned.

Police mentioned the person additionally consumed minibar gadgets throughout his stays and sometimes left payments unpaid. On the time of his arrest, he was staying at a luxurious Madrid lodge with a four-night reservation totalling 4,000 euros.

Authorities mentioned the lodge misplaced greater than 20,000 euros. The investigation started after a web based reserving web site reported suspicious exercise earlier this month.

Transactions initially gave the impression to be accomplished accurately, however the irregularity was solely found days later, when the fee platform transferred the precise quantity paid to the affected firm.