The Spanish police arrested a 20-year-old man who booked luxury rooms by paying only one cent, compromising the payment system of a booking site.

A 20-year-old man was arrested by the Spanish police for hacking a hotel booking site, managing to book luxury rooms by paying only one cent. The suspect modified the validation process of an electronic payment platform, so that the bookings would be recorded as fully paid, even though the actual amount charged was minimal.

The police stated that this is the first detected case of a cyber attack of this type. The young man, a Spanish citizen, consumed products from the minibar and left without paying some bills. At the time of his arrest, he was staying at a luxury hotel in Madrid, having a reservation for four nights, and the total damage caused amounts to over 20,000 euros. The investigation was initiated after the site reported suspicious activity, and the irregularities were discovered later.