Spanish police have apprehended a 20-year-old man on suspicion of conducting a sophisticated cyberattack against hotel booking websites, enabling him to reserve luxurious accommodations for a mere one euro cent per night. The suspect was taken into custody while residing at a high-end hotel in Madrid, where he is accused of having accumulated over €20,000 (£17,444) in losses for various establishments through his fraudulent activities.

Authorities described the alleged crime as a novel form of cyberattack involving the manipulation of an online payment system. The suspect is believed to have altered the payment validation process of an electronic platform, causing transactions for rooms, some priced up to €1,000 ($1,180; £870) per night, to be authorized after only one cent was entered as the charged amount. Spain's National Police stated that this method, specifically designed to compromise the payment validation system, represents the first detection of such a crime.

The investigation was initiated following reports of suspicious activity from a travel booking site. Although the fraudulent transactions initially appeared complete and correct, the irregularity was eventually uncovered days later when the payment platform processed and transferred the actual, highly-discounted amount — a mere €0.01 — to the affected hotel companies. Police acted swiftly, locating and arresting the suspect at the Madrid hotel within just four days of the initial report, facilitated by his use of his real identity for the reservations.

During his stays, the man not only secured rooms at an astonishingly low price but also reportedly consumed mini-bar items and left other bills unpaid, further increasing the financial burden on the hotels. His latest four-night stay at the Madrid hotel where he was arrested, for instance, would have normally cost €4,000 (£3,489). Furthermore, reports from the Spanish outlet ABC indicate that the suspect had a prior arrest in the Canary Islands, where he had also stayed at a luxury hotel, suggesting a history of similar illicit activities.