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I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

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Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#371

Post by thinnerlizzy »

Several months ago my AirBnB (2FA enabled) account was compromised. The scammer booked me for a property - the listing populated with blatant stock photos, no ratings - that was stated to be somewhere in England, but the pin on the map was somewhere in the ocean off the west coast of South America.

Once I raised the issue with them, I didn't hear from them for over a week. While I was concerned about the ~$1000 they owed me, I was equally concerned that someone had accessed my account. After about a week had passed I got them on the phone again and applied a little pressure, and a couple days later I had my refund. I did this by explaining that I work in the industry and I'm aware of what a big deal the ability to bypass a large company's 2FA is, that there's no excuse to drag their feet over such an obvious scam, and I vaguely alluded to media being interested in a story like this. I don't know how Average Joe would have fared in my case.

By reading the article and this thread there appears to be a variety of ways to conduct a scam on AirBnb.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#372

Post by NilsIRL »

jancsika wrote: post #366
elchupanebre wrote: post #342

Here is another scam that someone tried to pull on me. I booked a place in Reno a week in advance. On the night before check-in at about 2am I got a text from the host asking me to increase the price of stay by $20. That was small and I did not want the hassle of arguing but just decided to leave it till morning. In the morning I looked at it again on computer (as opposed to the phone) and saw something odd: the date…

That is such an elegant scam. It's like a magic trick complete with misdirection. Is there market where HN-type people come up with these and sell them to people to implement?

I doubt it because people are ethical (I hope).

But this is so true. I feel like I always come up with so many loopholes but because of their nature of being "scams" I obviously don't do them.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#373

Post by segh »

jancsika wrote: post #366
elchupanebre wrote: post #342

Here is another scam that someone tried to pull on me. I booked a place in Reno a week in advance. On the night before check-in at about 2am I got a text from the host asking me to increase the price of stay by $20. That was small and I did not want the hassle of arguing but just decided to leave it till morning. In the morning I looked at it again on computer (as opposed to the phone) and saw something odd: the date…

That is such an elegant scam. It's like a magic trick complete with misdirection. Is there market where HN-type people come up with these and sell them to people to implement?

I hope not! Better put your efforts into creating value rather than winning zero-sum scams.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#374

Post by dawnerd »

nathancahill wrote: post #267
gesman wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> The main downside for me concerning AirBnb is it takes a long time to analyze the listings to find quality accommodations. In my view this is major. To describe it better - need to read "between the lines" of misleading representations of properties. Lots of property owners goes to great extends to make property look way better, bigger, nicer than it really is and to conceal obvious negative points that become app…

Yes. I'm in charge of booking a ski trip for ~15 friends each year, and the amount of reading between the lines I have to do to make sure everyone has a comfortable place to sleep is crazy. Tons of places count sofas/pullouts/day beds in the "Sleeps # of People", and they often count the temporary beds as space for 2. So you'll see places that say, Sleeps 16, but there are only 3 or 4 real beds. Hotels have it right…

What ridiculous is when you try searching for 'whole homes' and you end up getting 'apartments' which are nothing more than someones basement. Airbnb seems to encourage this too by letting people put whatever tags they want. It's kind of a joke. In addition, hiding the address makes it hard to double check on google street view.

Edit: My workaround is selecting super hosts only, 3-4 bedrooms, 1+ bathroom. Seems to filter out most of the apartments and "Houses" aka granny flats.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#375

Post by jschwartzi »

BeetleB wrote: post #316
jschwartzi wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my fiance and I stayed at a place in Paia on Maui, the place looked immaculate from the pictures. But when we got there it was full of cockroaches. We had literally just gotten in at like 4 pm, put groceries down on the counter, and the little buggers were on them almost immediately. We were exhausted and didn't have the energy to really do anything after our 6 hour plane flight. The hosts came in and tried to r…

I had a similar experience in Honolulu. AirBnB with baby German cockroaches. I was not happy but at some point reality has to set in. Cockroaches are somewhat normal in tropical zones. I Googled around and found several tourists advising others that cockroaches are a reality in these locations. Even proper hotels had quite a few reviews involving cockroaches.

I would have been fine with one or two adult cockroaches. I've killed them before in my apartment. But this was an established infestation, with adults and nymphs of various ages crawling all over. They were crawling on the bath towels, in the appliances, in the kitchen etc.. Moreover, a hotel would not knowingly list or rent a room with a massive cockroach infestation.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#376

Post by 01010001 »

ilikehurdles wrote: post #272
vizzah wrote: post #143

I stopped using AirBnb. Their customer service on a number of occasions made it apparent they are not going to deal with hosts who have fake and outdated pictures and ruin other guest's stays. It seems hosts are the only side of the equation AirBnb folks care about. Airbnb let the host write a review on us for the stay which we didn't even take, as when we arrived in the apartment it was in a such appalling state, di…

I still browse AirBnb's listings on occasion, but the last few trips have ended up booking directly with hotels, Lodges/Inns/BnBs, or vacation rental companies. When taking a look at the true prices, inclusive of fees, and what level of property I get for them today, Airbnb often comes out much more expensive for comparative properties. I might still have better experiences in less touristy locations than the ones I…

This is also my experience, I find Airbnb to be more expensive and not cheaper than booking through their competition and often times the same property will be listed on Airbnb but 15% cheaper on HomeAway.

This summer I made a trip to Spain where we ended up staying on a 4 star hotel with breakfast on the beach we wanted for what would have costed to rent a house of similar feel.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#377

Post by bluGill »

205guy wrote: post #330
bluGill wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want a refund in either of those cases so much as a place to stay that matches my requirements NOW. (good customer service says the replacement will be better, hotels try to reserve their best suites until last just to ensure that they have the better room around just in case). I'm some new city and I want to get my family to sleep...

To me it sounds as if you are saying "I want the charm\location\social experience of staying with a local resident AND I want the convenience/professionalism/capital resources of the hotel industry AND I don't want to pay for the convenience/professionalism/capital resources of a hotel." As with software, pick two.

I don't want to stay with a local resident - in fact the only times I've stayed at an AirBnB (twice so not a significant sample) I never saw the owner, we just got the code to the lock box and used the house for a few days. This is a hotel.

I'd stay with a hotel (and sometimes do) if they would offer me as many bedrooms and a kitchen to work with.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#378

Post by cwkoss »

mortenjorck wrote: post #325
ryandrake wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, fraud like this is exactly what chargebacks are for. Companies don't listen to anything but money. AirBNB counts on you being a pushover and not disputing the charge. I don't understand this "Well they charged my credit card so there's nothing I can do!" attitude.

Just be aware that a chargeback is an instant bridge-igniter with the company or platform you’re filing it against, most considering it a breach of the TOS and banning your account.

They don't have controls to notice if you sign up with a different email and use a different card.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#379

Post by thebiglebrewski »

kingbirdy wrote: post #302
bluedevil2k wrote: post #121

I've run into a scam recently on AirBNB and several situations that ended up screwing me over. The scam was after booking a nice place in Orlando, Florida for a week through my wife's AirBNB account. The day after booking, the "owner" sent an email saying that they required a photograph of the front and back of her credit card, drivers license picture and full name. Not even a subtle scam, but that would probably foo…

The asymmetry of the platform is really my biggest gripe. Hosts & AirBnB themselves have basically no way to lose money on the platform and are laughing all the way to the bank, while users can be left with nowhere to stay 5 minutes before check in, and be forced to pay 2-20x what they paid for the AirBnB to get a comparable place last minute. It's absolutely fucked, and it's the same deal for most major corporations…

Give me a break, Hosts have plenty of ways to lose money and take a huge risk renting their place out in the first place. People cancel last minute (if you have the nicer cancellation policies in place), leave beer bottles everywhere, and are sometimes just really unreasonable. Some guests are great though which makes it worth it!

We also have to deal with Airbnb issues, like when a guest leaves a review that isn't true and they leave it up anyway, even if the guest had no evidence, as one example.

Don't think that hosts always have it so easy or are all scammers like in this post.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#380

Post by perlgeek »

longerthoughts wrote: post #369
OnlineGladiator wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with a lot of what you say, but > And if the host's place did burn down for real then a few hundred extra to pay for the guest's hotel for a few nights will surely be a negligent cost. is a very narrow view of someone who just lost their house to a fire. Even assuming nothing irreplaceable was lost, I feel my upcoming AirBnB guest might not be my top priority.

Any idea what hotels typically do in this situation? It's not exactly apples to apples but if you're going to make money by the same methods it seems within reason to play by similar rules.

> Any idea what hotels typically do in this situation?

They pay other hotels to take you in, and have insurance for the worst case (house burning down).

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