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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

#551

Post by asveikau »

dboreham wrote: post #157
mattrp wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would second this experience. We travel with our five kids and its sometimes impossible to find a hotel that can accommodate us. That said, I did experience a switcheroo in Chicago similar to the article. However that’s where the similarities end. The place was in the same neighborhood, it was comparable to the listing but the only catch was we were told not say Airbnb to anyone in the building but to say guests of…

I haven't stayed at Airbnbs in the US but it has been a common experience in Europe to be instructed to say we're guests of the owner if asked. I assume this is about either HOA rules on subletting, or tax/insurance/regulatory issues.

I think it makes more sense. If you just say "I am at the airbnb", it's confusing. Maybe they don't know what unit you're talking about. If you say "guest of blah blah" there is some clarity. Eg. even if they don't know their neighbors, it's likely that the host's name is at least on the buzzer or mailbox. And if you remember your host's name, you may know which buzzer to hit at check-in, for example.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#552

Post by sayhello »

telesilla wrote: post #505
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…

I booked a hotel room in Paris earlier this year over AirBnB out of curiosity, as the room was cheaper than advertised on other platforms. The day before, I thought to call and verify it wasn't a scam and the hotel manager had no record of my stay. A scammer had just uploaded pictures of the hotel room to AirBnB. I got a full refund (and the hotel, in thanks for me letting them know they were scam targets gave me a d…

Because the scammer may be using this as a way to launder money or to extract money from stolen credit cards.

They may not be scamming legitimate bookers, but rather, using the listing for other kinds of scams.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#553

Post by bvandewalle »

Julien_r2 wrote: post #241

Few days ago I stumbled upon an article from Paul Graham from 2008 that fits well in the current topic imo - Be good ( http://www.paulgraham.com/good.html ) He describes how startup sometime follows the pattern "You grow big by being nice, but you can stay big by being mean." And it's the feeling I have today about Airbnb.. I use to love them, not only because of the concept, but also as a startup pushing innovation,…

this should be higher up and is exactly how I feel. I will go out of my way to never book an Airbnb again and I'm pushing all my friends to do so as well.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#554

Post by xmprt »

tomp wrote: post #428
yason wrote: post #335

The late cancellation by host without no specific penalties seems to be one of the most prevalent yet disturbing elements in this. The one who's travelling has the weakest odds of all. The traveler will be in a foreign place with no place to stay. In contrast, the host has no losing cards except some income. The rules should, thus, have been written to protect the traveler at the expense of the host because the host…

Still better than Uber where if the driver cancels more than 5 minutes after accepting the ride, the rider gets charged (as if the rider had cancelled). They're very fast to issue refunds, but only if requested... I wonder how many people just never notice the fraudulent charge! One reason I minimally trust Uber and keep checking all their charges...

That only happens if the driver arrives at your location and waits. You can't just expect to call an Uber and have them wait forever. Regardless of what you think of uber, it's just common courtesy to be ready when it arrives.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#555

Post by necovek »

blueadept111 wrote: post #308
JadoJodo wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> or other host with a history of good reviews But how can I trust that the reviews are good if, as this article talks about, people are hesitant to post anything but good reviews for fear of receiving a retaliatory review?

Neither review is visible until both are done, so that's nonsense.

Uhm, that sounds even worse: so your bad review won't show up until a host responds, so they can simply decide not to, and your bad review never shows up.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#556

Post by necovek »

SpencerBratman wrote: post #70
chadlavi wrote: post #21

There are also some smaller-time scams hosts run. I was forced to pay a three-figure cleaning fee by an AirBnB in DC earlier this year because they claimed I left a stain on their couch -- which I never even sat on (also, I was by myself, so it's not as though another one of my guests did something to it). I appealed and asked for photos of the supposed stain, but they ghosted me and in the end AirBnB ruled in their…

That's really unfair, and I definitely think you should've got your money back. However, looking at it from a business standpoint, it's more expensive for them to lose a host than to lose a customer. So that's why I'm guessing you got the short end of the stick.

Looking at it from a "business perspective", if this becomes prevalent behavior, visitors stay away from the business and your "hosts" become worthless.

This scam actually works only in so far it is not prevalent and relatively small scale (100 listed properties is arguably not small scale anymore, but compared to the total number of listed properties...). However, now is the time for the platform to ensure this does not become a common experience, or they risk losing it all.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#557

Post by grapehut »

aptwebapps wrote: post #550
52-6F-62 wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow that’s messy. I have trip this coming month through Expedia and the last leg of our bargain basement flight got cancelled. The rep told me there were no flights for days surrounding our original flight date. I had to sit on hold for a long time but I have to say they were great. United swept our transportation out from under our feet but the rep was able to wrangle a flight with fewer stops that arrives earlier w…

Expedia did that? That's great. I've always avoided them and their competitors and bought directly from the airlines because I was afraid if something went wrong I would get better service that way.

Yeah, that's what happened to me. I booked through expedia, and missed a flight (no fault of my own). The airline outright refused to deal with me, saying I needed to contact expedia to contact them. Half a day later, I still hadn't been able to hear anything useful from expedia and getting desperate ended up booking a new flight out of pocket (and never got compensation either).

I've since sworn to only ever book the flight directly from the airline.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#558

Post by CaptainZapp »

koyote wrote: post #457
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…

I am not sure I completely understand: Is the host able to unilaterally change the dates of your booking on AirBnb? Did your agreement to the text (asking for $20 extra) allow him to make the changes?

Yes they usually are.

There's a raft of AirBnB horror stories[1] about hosts pulling a confirmed booking at the last moment and AirBnb's "awesome" customer support leaving the guest high and dry if they were approachable at all.

AirBnb may have been a great idea in 2010. Nowadays what you get is very oten a cheaply outfitted cooky cutter appartment managed by some faceless management company.

You may also be asked to sneak to your appartment through the back door because the lease is actually illegal at your destination and other such fun shenanigens, while the price essesntially is no more cheaper than a comparable hotel room.

[1] https://www.airbnbhell.com/

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#559

Post by Ayesh »

Fomite wrote: post #395
kieckerjan wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what kind of plan B are you talking about?

I often have a cancelable hotel reservation on hand.

Speaking from a hotel owner perspective, this is hurting the business for them.

Hotels are expensive to run, and with the booking sites pushing for cancelable bookings, hotels have to make them cancelable as well.

When you cancel a room at 5:55PM, the room stays empty pretty much 100% of the time.

Re: I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb

#560

Post by Ayesh »

SiVal wrote: post #475
yason wrote: post #335

The late cancellation by host without no specific penalties seems to be one of the most prevalent yet disturbing elements in this. The one who's travelling has the weakest odds of all. The traveler will be in a foreign place with no place to stay. In contrast, the host has no losing cards except some income. The rules should, thus, have been written to protect the traveler at the expense of the host because the host…

The one who's travelling has the weakest odds of all. The traveler will be in a foreign place with no place to stay. In contrast, the host has no losing cards except some income. No, the one being scammed has the weakest odds. The "traveler" could in fact be a local scammer who sabotages a property and then has various ways (which I won't detail) for turning a profit on it if the rules favor the "poor traveler". I'm…

Airbnb already asks you to keep the conversation inside its own messaging system. A phone call is a smart way for the scammer to make the victim provide instant confirmation and not have the communication recorded at Airbnb.
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