Spanish police have arrested a hacker who booked luxury hotels for a penny

Spanish police on Wednesday (Feb 18, 2026) arrested a 20-year-old man in what they said was the first cybercrime of its kind, allegedly hacking a hotel booking website to reserve luxury rooms for only one percent.

The suspect is believed to have tampered with the site’s payment system, altering the validation process of the electronic payment platform so that bookings are paid in full.

But for rooms costing up to 1,000 euros ($1,200) a night – only one percent – is actually charged.

“This cyberattack was specifically designed to change the payment validation system and this is the first time we have detected a crime using this method,” Spain’s national police said.

Police said the man also used minibar items during his stay and occasionally 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 euros.

Officials said the hotel lost more than 20,000 euros. The investigation began earlier this month when an online booking website reported suspicious activity.

The transactions initially appeared to be completed correctly, but the irregularities were discovered only after a few days, when the payment platform transferred the actual amount paid to the victim company.