Woman's disturbing find in apartment she rented during European holiday
Three travellers were mortified after locating secret hidden cameras inside an apartment they were meant to be staying at while holidaying in Europe.
Rubee Woo, from Kuala Lumpur, uploaded photos of the alarming discovery to Facebook after checking into a unit in Porto, Portugal, which she had booked through Booking.com.
The woman said she was due to stay at the apartment, which had a 9.2 rating on the booking site, last week, but refused to stay after finding several cameras in the bathroom.
In her post, uploaded on June 20, showed tiny devices inside a wall behind the basin, inside the toilet bowl and at the bottom of another bathroom amenity.
Ms Woo explained she was terrified after finding the cameras and despite some hesitance because of the language barrier, ended up contacting police.
She said the owner lived downstairs, adding to the weight of her problem because she wasn’t sure how he would react when police arrived just after midnight.
After giving her statement to police, she managed to escape with all her luggage to the safety of a hotel by about 5am.
“We finished packing the luggage to the car and handed the key to the police. (We) saw the police and the owner of the house chat before going away,” a translated version of her post read.
Ms Woo said she had reported the incident to the booking site, but was concerned she would be discriminated against due to being Asian.
“I hope the house owners will be punished,” she wrote.
Adding to her shock was the fact the home owner had been very helpful when she first arrived, and other reviewers had given their experience a high rating on the website.
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia Booking.com said it was investigating the incident.
“At Booking.com, we do not tolerate improper behaviour from our accommodation partners and in the very rare instance that we're made aware of such a situation, we investigate immediately,” the statement said.
“We are refunding this customer in full and are covering any extra costs related to their relocation. We have also suspended the property in question from our site, pending the results of a full investigation.”
The incident comes amid a rise in the sale of high-tech spyware devices, which can be purchased online and installed with relative ease.
Australian websites and retailers offer a variety of items with hidden cameras, like smoke detectors, TV remotes, alarm clocks, pens, night lights, hats and car keys.
In March a backpacker found a hidden camera in the bathroom of a Sydney hostel.
In a separate incident, another backpacker claimed he discovered several cameras planted found inside his room and shower in January.
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