My boyfriend and I are currently looking for a long-term rental in Milan, and we have already come across three scammers. The most significant one we have experienced was for a huge flat right in the centre, that was advertised on Bakeca. It was for just 940 Euros a month (very cheap for Milan)! The flat was beautiful, but we couldn’t see it in advance because (like I’m seeing with many stories here) he was supposedly out of the country. We exchanged a few emails and he said that he used Airbnb because it was the safest option. It was clear that it was an email he had copied time and time again because he never answered any of the questions I asked and he never addressed me by my name. Nevertheless, I trust Airbnb because I have always had good experiences, so I asked him to send the link to the flat. The site looked normal, the reviews were incredible, and yet something seemed off… then I noticed that the usual padlock that marks that you can pay securely wasn’t in the address bar like it is on the real Airbnb website, and if you tried to click on any of the links they didn’t work… apart from payment of course! Anyway, although I noticed before it was too late, I very nearly went through with it. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM!
Tag Archives: Airbnb scam
Fraudulent Listings on Airbnb
I was interested in two listings in London. Both were fraudulent. They posted email addresses in the photo section with Airbnb in the script. When I messaged them through official channels they asked me to email them directly to check on the dates. I then got official looking booking emails that connected you to what looked exactly like the Airbnb payment portal. Payment was then asked for by wire. The apartments are probably from real estate listings (too good to be true). I paid but because it didn’t feel right I cancelled the wire an hour later. That’s a whole other issue that I’m dealing with my bank about. They said they didn’t get the money. I am not sure if they did yet. They sent me a second bank to which to wire money. The first bank was in Norway, and the second was in England. Based on the sophistication of the software I am sure that this scam is not limited to London, but has infected their entire listing database. I informed Airbnb.com of this scam and their response was to send me scripted safety tips. I sent them copies of all the mirrored web pages and email addresses and banking info. I did not request they refund my money I just asked for the assistance and I have never heard from them.
Pregnant Wife and Donuts on the Streets of NYC
I booked an apartment on Airbnb, only to discover there was no apartment, there was no landlord, and my money was gone. The result: I was stuck at 11:00 pm with a pregnant wife on the streets of New York City in a Dunkin Donuts. I read about similar scams for new users like me on Airbnb; I understand bribery is an important part of their business: it attracts new users at least. Airbnb did nothing to help me, my money is gone, and they replied to my complaints “there is nothing we can do, this will be the last email you receive from us.” Their platform is full of frauds and there is no serious attempt to exercise oversight on the users. Stay away from these people. They are not a serious company. My experience with Airbnb has been a nightmare.
ANOTHER WAY AIRBNB RIPS OFF HOSTS
Airbnb charges owners who cancel a reservation $100 for each cancellation even when it is airbnb’s fault. We have four rental units and advertise on several sites. Airbnb is supposed to sync each calendar. We have accepted reservations and then checked our master calendar and the unit is booked. When we tried to resolve the issue we were charged each time when it was clearly the fault of airbnb. DO NOT USE INSTANT BOOKING or accept a reservation without checking your own calendar. DO NOT RELY ON THE AIRBNB CALENDAR. DO NOT US AIRBNB. Not only are they making 10-15% from the renters they are making a killing ripping owners off!!! We are very happy with VRBO and only fill in our calendar with airbnb. Also, airbnb clientele are not as good as VRBO clientele. They are price shoppers and budget travelers. We have found that the people that pay more are more respectful of your property.
How To Recover Your Money from Airbnb
Here’s a warning and hopefully some help for others in the Airbnb nightmare club. I recently used Airbnb for the first time. I have several friends that rent their houses through this service so I though I’d try it. This review does not pertain to every person on Airbnb. There are good people there, I know some personally. However, there are bad people there too and I just got a lesson in how far Airbnb goes to protect known scammers. If you read to the end I’ll explain how I unscammed myself.
Ok, I rented a room in Bozeman for 12 days. I paid for it in advance of course. Now, Airbnb claims they don’t charge your account until you check in. What they don’t mention is that for them “check in” occurs 24 hours before your rental starts. The host already has your money and has possibly spent it before you arrive. Possibly on drugs that make them crazy when you get there. Just saying. Apparently this happened to me. When I showed up, the hosts were super sketchy. The house smelled like people just pee in the hall rather than going all the way to the bathroom. There were people sleeping on every couch and piece of free carpet it seemed. The room was in the back. It had probably never been cleaned since the last junkie died there. I mentioned I was disappointed that the house was not as described and not the one in the pictures. They asked me to leave. I couldn’t have been happier to get out. Really, it was a health hazard. I called Airbnb and they said they would help. They’d call back in 5-10 minutes. They’d help me find another place and we’re sorry. I said ok, I’m sitting in my car in a blizzard so somewhere close would be best. They said if it was more than 15 minutes they’d call with an update.
They called almost 4 hours later. They said that since I’d already talked to another employee there they couldn’t help me. I never talked to anyone else. I assume the host called pretending to be me. They said that their hands are tied and they can only do what the host wants anyway. I said that is says clearly on your site that in extenuating circumstances or if the rental isn’t as described, Airbnb will override the host’s policies. He said he doesn’t think it says that. I explained where to read it. He said, well I don’t have the authority to do anything like that. I asked to be transferred to someone who can. He said there is no one who can. ??? He then said the only way is to contact the host and ask for a refund. Really? The scammers make the rules? By this time the hosts had “canceled” my reservation. You’d think this means a refund. You’d be very wrong. What it means is I can’t leave feedback about the host because I no longer have a reservation. If I go to my emails and click the links there it says that reservation does not exist. So, if the host has any clue you will leave a bad review, they can block you from writing one. Also, read through the Airbnb policies on the website. First it says all reviews are honest and from real renters. Keep reading. Wait for the part where they say they erase and or modify the reviews as they see fit. Seriously? Honest reviews re-written by marketing experts. Seems like a real nice version of honesty to me.
Ok, so what to do if this happens to you? Well, hopefully you reserved your room with a credit or debit card. Call your bank. Ask for the fraud department. Maybe even the Airbnb fraud specialist. No joke Wells Fargo said they think they need a few. The guy that helped me said this is the 4th similar Airbnb scam he personally helped with today. At this point, if they hear Airbnb they just shove the money back in your account. He said sorry this happened, and I had my cash in about 12 hours. Don’t try and deal with Airbnb if you have a problem. Well, you can try but do it with the expectation that they won’t help. So, I want to say once more that there are good people on Airbnb. You may rent a place and love it. But please protect yourself in case you do get initiated into the Airbnb nightmare club.
Fake Airbnb website, don’t be fooled!
I found a nice apartment in Oman on the olx.com.om website and I contacted the owner. He replied to me and said that he is currently in London cause his contract in Oman has finished in 2011, he has the keys from flat in Muscat with him and he will fly to Muscat as soon as he finds reliable tenants. I was interested in a long term rent, the apartment was very nice and I was ready to talk with him on skype to convince him how good and neat couple me and my husband are. I got a long letter from him, his passport copy and not even a single answer to any of my questions… it was like I got the answers from a robot. Then he sent me an email saying: “I had bad experiences with prospective tenants so that it happened for me to travel to Muscat for nothing which involved a complete waste of time and efforts. Having received proofs from tenants according with them being interested in renting (passport, job contracts showing their earnings, bank statements) proved to be ineffective for my certainty. Some tenants tend to put additional conditions even if they had not been discussed previously or worse, they sometimes still try to negotiate after traveling back to London. Some of them also asked me to wait until the end of the month for them to get paid. I hope my explanation is enough for you to understand my point of view and why I chose Airbnb. My apartment is listed on airbnb.com and I have more good reviews. Let me know if you know about airbnb and I if you are ready to rent the apartment for the first month. That is my certainty guarantee and the only way I can come to Muscat.” I said I don’t mind to rent his apartment through airbnb for the first month and asked him to give me the link. He said he will send it to me shortly and I only got it the next day.
This is the address that I saw in my browser after I clicked on the link he sent me: http://airbnb-rent-booking-apartment-verified.ashanti.ro/rooms/2367933?View Which looked exactly like airbnb and had the payment system in it. Of course it was clear for me that this website is fake airbnb and someone was just trying to get a 1500$ transfer from me. So be very careful and make sure you deal with real airbnb 😉
FRAUD and SCAMMERS INSIDE AIRBNB!!
This is my sad Airbnb story. Me and a group of friends planned a trip to Amsterdam, we found the house we wanted on the site Airbnb, the host was a registered user with good reviews from the apartment, apparently all normal. We contacted the host through the Airbnb site, who responded to our request via email were we exchanging information to confirm the reservation. Back to the site of the apartment, to proceed with the booking, and once again all normal, or the site was a perfect copy of Airbnb, or even was the original, because everything was equal, logos, fonts, layout,etc. I proceeded with the reservation and confirmed the same, then I get an email at the following address airbnb@reply-booking.com (again equal to the sent by airbnb), to pay for the booking to a bank in the UK, Barclays Bank PLC; Payment due: 3 days IBAN: GB73BARC20077473958027; Bank address: 35 Frederick Street, Birmingham B1 3HH, United Kingdom). Unfortunately payment has been made, we received a new email confirming that he had been transferred the money, which the reservation was ready and safe, the host confirmed by email that Airbnb was informed that he had been paid the booking, saying that on the day of our arrival bound us to mark the delivery of house keys. With the approach of the trip, and no Host answers, we began to get suspicious that we were fraud victims. We contacted airbnb, who just informed us that there was no reservation for that number, and asked for payment and other documents, and it was all sent to them. More than 48 hours have passed now and no response from airbnb, which forced me to make a complaint to the facebook page of them, which by sheer miracle, made them immediately send an email, saying it had been a fraud. They apologized but said they can not do anything. It is amazing how a company with the size of airbnb does not help victim users of these crimes and take their responsibility for a scam that happened on their website! with a registered user, using their platform to catch the victims. The first contact of fraud is done on the Airbnb website, they have responsibility for it, I did not ask airbnb to give me back the money I lost, but at least to help me better and provide host information and method that was used in fraud . I believe it is an inside job of someone who works in airbnb along with another person outside the company, because all the initial contact, is always done in the airbnb site, where they “fish” their victims.
Airbnb, never more!
Swindle through the Airbnb platform
My daughter found a flat in NY on the Airbnb website. She received an email from the ‘host’ of the flat and also one issued by a fake Airbnb email address (express@airbnb.com pretending to be the real Airbnb, used its buzzwords / terminology and carried the Airbnb logo. It said: “Welcome to Airbnb!” and added that to “get started” they needed her email address. It was signed “Thanks, Airbnb Team” etc. This started correspondence with a duplicitous platform whose sole purpose was to swindle my daughter into paying an Airbnb Inc account with Barclays Bank for a reservation it confirmed with payment instruction. By the time payment was made. We contacted Customer Support and we were told, after rigorous checking of our credentials (how ironic or cynical) that they consider the host to be a security risk – but that we would have to be informed properly by their safety team. There were a number of conversations – each with the same rigorous check (I wonder for what purpose?) and each ending with how they care about their customers; how sorry they are and telling us to wait for contact by the Safety department. This took about 2 weeks. Despite the statement about how much they care, no interest was ever expressed to view the fake exchanges and perhaps learn how their customers are being cheated. This is amazing because for a company that is valued as high as Airbnb, it is obvious that they are operating a platform that ‘leaks’. Either third parties, or perhaps third parties aided by insiders working at Airbnb or ex-workers of Airbnb who are familiar with the engagement process themselves operating these fake operations. We do not know – but it is equally obvious that this scam was not designed for single use but is intended to score many hits. Presumably it does. There is however no-one to talk to at Airbnb. There is no interest on their side to learn more. They continue to operate a leaky platform that confuses and dupes their customers and this can be remedied by regular pop-ups or the use of passwords that protect private information AND by checking their hosts BEFORE they support their fraud by placing their ‘property’ on their website. Is it stupidity or naivety on their part as business managers that stops them from doing this – perhaps it is all too much for them? In any case, Airbnb is remarkably similar to the fraudsters who work as parasites on their sites. Once there is a problem there is no-one to talk to and their use of ‘no-response’ mails has similarities to the email addresses used by the swindlers and purporting to be issued by Airbnb which eventually are returned with the message ‘your message to express@airbnb could not be delivered”. I think this level of care is the lowest I have encountered on the web. I think the disregard for customers losses is unequalled in a travel business. I believe that no-one should use Airbnb as it is a company that is not interested in advancing itself or improving its services to its customers. Its concern is to turn away from the deceit practised around its activity and tell us how much they care and how sorry they are. Don’t bother using them – and running the risk of a swindle that may be encouraged by a leaky platform. Use a hotel. The customer feedback on travel sites for hotel bookings I have found reliable and authentic. Moreover, in entering someone else’s property – God knows to what you expose yourself (leaving aside Airbnb’s platform abuses), especially when you know that (no matter what they say to the contrary) their level of care is abysmal and you are on your own. On the face of theirs appears a hopelessly defective model.
Guests tricked Airbnb into giving full refund – used false images
Hello all, My story : we rent a place perfectly advertised on airbnb. 4 weeks ago a guy contact us to rent the full place for 6 days (1600€ all in), asking also for a taxi and booking some stuff around our place. after some chat on airbnb and facebook (lot of pictures sent to him), he place a reservation (strict reservation). 2 days before he come, we proceed to buy all the food for his stay (full board here, for 8 person, for 6 day). we send him a taxi. even before seeing the place, he complain because of everything (too hot, too much people, not enough remote, fish in the sea …) and after one night decided to leave for a 5* hotel 200 km away … (without paying any taxi or the deposit he asked us to put on local sports operator). 3 days after, an email from airbnb : based on the pictures of your guest and the pictures on your advertisement, we can say they are not alike, and that the place is not ok with our policy … so we give a full reimbursment to your guest … nobody contacted us before taking the decision (as i’m sure the place is as described because i took the pictures myself, and I was there the week before). and the “case manager” don’t want to make any change to his decision the fact is that guest changed his mind from a bungalow on a remote beach to a 5* hotel in a touristic place and send to airbnb pictures from crapy place, but not from our place … and airbnb consider it’s actual pictures of our place ! the only thing the guest want is his money back … and he got it ! all together, this story will cost me about 2000€ (the renting, the food, the deposit and the taxi !) avoid airbnb, you are not sure at all to get your money!
Filthy and Overpriced
Rented a carriage house in Kerhonkson, NY. Upon arrival we knew we had made a mistake. The property was not close to ANYTHING and you couldn’t even get cell service for miles around the property. When we entered the carriage house, we saw that it was absolutely filthy. Dirt covered floors, dead and live insects everywhere and cob webs nearly everywhere you looked. We had no choice but to stay as there was a horse show in the area and every hotel was sold out. I felt like I had bugs crawling on my skin the entire time we were there. We told the owner that the unit had not been cleaned once we left because we could not get a signal beforehand and that we at least wanted the $100 cleaning fee refunded. She kept trying to drag it out saying she wanted to speak on the phone and not via text. We later found out that this was because she wanted enough time to pass so that we couldn’t get any money back from AirBNB. Now we are not getting any responses from her. Don’t rent from Mo in Kerhonkson NY or in Massachusetts. She’s a con artist.