On December 10th, 2012, after several weeks of searching for an apartment to rent in Paris next spring, I found exactly what I was looking for on the AIRBNB website. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 baths beautifully decorated grand apartment in a quiet street in the trendy Le Marais neighborhood (AIRBNB listing No. 532723 though I suspect that has been changed). I used the “contact the owner” button on the AIRBNB page for the apartment and within minutes I received an email from the owner with a quote for the rental period. The rate was reasonable and it included transportation to and from the airport and offered a 20% discount for paying in full within a week. The email included information about the “owner” of the apartment and contact phone numbers and addresses. It all looked normal enough. They forwarded a contract and a bank account and we wire-transferred the money. That was the last time we heard from them.
First the mea-culpa. There were plenty of red flags we ignored in this transaction. The deal was too good to be true, the money transfer offered no security, the hurry up and pay was suspicious. All should have given me plenty of pause, but we forged ahead mostly because I trusted someone I had contacted through a reputable website.
After realizing our mistake I contacted AIRBNB directly. Their response only added insult to injury. I never expected AIRBNB to reimburse the money lost. But when I explained to them how I made the initial contact with the scammers, I expected some kind of “we’ll try to investigate how this happened so it won’t happen again” response. Instead AIRBNB denied they had any record of the initial contact and all but accused me of inventing the whole thing even though I had forwarded them all emails exchanged, the contract we received from the scammer and the official receipt from our bank transfer. They sent me a pre-written statement that warned against going outside their website to close a transaction and pretty much washed their hands off.
By blaming me and ignoring the deeper problem of how this fraud was committed, AIRBNB is shooting themselves on the foot. Yes, I am out of a substantial amount which I had no expectations of recovering once I realized our mistake, but they have a bigger problem than I do because the only way I could have been contacted by these people is if they hacked into the AIRBNB site or into the real owner’s email. As I explained to them, I made first contact through their website and sent no personal information about myself other than an interest in the apartment on that initial contact. Either way, I am absolutely sure I won’t be the first or last customer scammed this way. So beware, thread very carefully with these kind of online transactions and be warned that if anything goes wrong, at least when dealing with AIRBNB, most likely you’ll be on your own.
Airbnb scam
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Well, something certainly seems amiss here, because the way Airbnb is supposed to work is that you contact the owner (through Airbnb), but you PAY Airbnb, which in fact doesn't turn the money over to the owner until 24 hours after you've showed up and Airbnb has confirmed that with the owner, which is a safeguard for the renter.
I don't understand how, if you contacted the owner through the Airbnb site, there could not have been a record of that.
I am not a fan of AirB&B -as any of my posts will tell you.
But - you didn;t do this through their system - so I don't see how you can expect them to take any action. In fact, you don;t really know who you were dealing with - so how could they?
This is like the fake listings on Craig's list. The just publish the info - and don;t make and claims that it is legitimate.
Sorry - this is a scam by whoever you sent the money to. Not Air B&B.
We are Airbnb hosts for our guest room in the States, and what you describe simply could not have happened! When a potential guest contacts us through Airbnb, I must reply back back to the person through Airbnb. If I would attempt to put a telephone number or email address in my response, the software on the Airbnb automatically blocks it out. I can supply my contact information, and the guest can respond directly, only after the booking is accepted by me, and the money paid to Airbnb.
Something is really fishy here!
I agree with AirB&B, if you were going to use the website, you should have read all their terms. YOu then chose to ignore them and pay and make personal contact outside of AirB&B. Why would you even do such a thing, their website clearly indicates you pay through them and book through them.
Maybe they don't have any record of your contact with them, sometimes those things do get lost, you never know. It isn't even clear that you did use their website, I think I've heard of someone else who used some false website or something outside AirBnB (or VRBO, forget which).
Your post doesn't even explain what the scam supposedly was. YOu say you are out the money, but you never explained why you immediately assumed you were scammed or what happened for you to immediately conclude you had no rental.
Yes, I would think anyone should pretty much assume on that webstie or VRBO that you're on your own to begin with. .
I'm sorry you lost money, if you did, but I don't think you should complain about AirBnB when you chose to ignore their website's FAQs, terms, and methods of usage. You clearly are familiar with them, so must know how they work, or you wouldn't have used them in the first place nor refer to them as a reputable website if you knew nothing about them. You also know when you use websites like that which are just private individuals, not agencies, there is always a possibility of fraud.
I know you want sympathy, and I would be sympathetic if you just posted this as a warning not to do the things you did, and say you learned your lesson, rather than just trying to complain about AirBnB.
This appears not to have been an Airbnb scam at all, but rather a "scam" by a criminal who hacked into their website and stole information. I doubt it's possible to completely protect against this sort of thing happening, since computer criminals are very resourceful.
I think she made it very clear that she did NOT contact them outside Airbnb, that she contacted them THROUGH Airbnb, which is the only way you CAN contact them.
Seems like the OP did the actual booking directly with the owner, instead of through Airbnb. There are instructions on the Airbnb site about how to book a rental. Following the Airbnb procedure is what protects from being scammed.
That listing is still on AirBnB. It is $533 a night - is that what you saw and felt was reasonable??
I have booked 2 different places using AirBnB and could not have direct contact with owner until they accepted my offer and paid.
How did you find the listing. - did you go to AirBnB.com and do a search or did you find it another way?
Something doesn't add up here.....
(First post, scammed = troll?)
"StCirq on Jan 27, 13 at 1:31pm
Well, something certainly seems amiss here, because the way Airbnb is supposed to work is that you contact the owner (through Airbnb), but you PAY Airbnb, which in fact doesn't turn the money over to the owner until 24 hours after you've showed up and Airbnb has confirmed that with the owner, which is a safeguard for the renter.
I don't understand how, if you contacted the owner through the Airbnb site, there could not have been a record of that"
Exactly. I just finished dealing with Airbnb. I'm supposed to now be in one of two Thai apartments that I had rented, but had to cancel my trip due to a family emergency. After doing my cancelation online with Airbnb, I was e-mailed, within 30 minutes, that my refund had been issued to my credit card. The total refund, minus the booking fee, posted to my credit card within 2 days. And that was for 2 apartments, but 3 bookings.
From the start, I went online and chatted with the owners and asked various questions. Then when I had made my decision I paid online to the Airbnb site as that's the system. Then I waited until the apartment owners sent their approval. I then was sent the e-mail address of the owners and the address of the apartment. I googled the owners' names and did some research. Both seemed fine. They were also very understanding when I had to cancel. I was just on e-mail with one of them last night as he and his wife and I plan to keep in touch. I even recommended to him the apartment that I rent in Paris as he and his wife might go there in the future.
Happy Travels!
"cynthia_booker on Jan 27, 13 at 9:06pm
Seems like the OP did the actual booking directly with the owner, instead of through Airbnb. There are instructions on the Airbnb site about how to book a rental. Following the Airbnb procedure is what protects from being scammed"
Exactly. And there's nowhere in all of the Airbnb info that says that a potential renter is to send money directly to the apartment owner. And how would one get that info anyway as Airbnb would block it? One doesn't even get the owner's e-mail address, telephone number, or apartment address of the rental until after one has paid on the Airbnb website.
Happy Travels!
As others have said, when you rent a listing on AirBnB you get no direct contact information until payment has been made by credit card only through the site. It could not have happened as described.
Someone is very confused or worse and AirBnB does not deserve to be libelled in this way.
( you can and SHOULD converse with the owner via AirBnB internal communication system - ask questions and even get exact address if the owner wants to give that out - before you pay. I even had someone local check out the 2 places we rented before we sent the payment. Both owners were very agreeable to that; we were lucky to have contacts in San Francisco and Hilo who did that for us. I tried to include my email address and phone # and both were blocked out, until I paid.)
In defense of the OP because I have to take the posting on face value until proven wrong. I have never used airbnb and just tried to see what I would find in Paris. When opening the web site, there are no statements as to the rules of engagement. I chose one apartment, and I get a sidebar inviting me to contact the owner. If I get a reply from the owner asking for direct payment, I have no way of knowing that this is not the normal operating procedure, although there is a box to click on that presumably explains how airbnb protects the potential client.
The OP has suggested that airbnb might have been hacked, but clearly there was no interest in that information.
There is no way for the owner to give you a way to pay directly. They would have to provide you with some means to do so, which would in all likelihood involve including an email address which AirBnB software blocks. I am guessing that if the owner gave a website to go to for direct contact, it would be blocked as well. The first time I dealt with a listing, I didn't realize that you couldn't give an email address or phone number, so I included it in my message. Blocked. AirBnB makes money from the booking (from the renter) so they are going to have pretty decent procedures to block people from contacting directly and thereby cutting AirBnB out of money.
There is no way for the owner to give you a way to pay directly
Is this to suggest that the OP is lying? The posting was not a rant in the sense that the OP gives an outline of the steps taken subsequently and states that s/he has the e-mails to prove the point. Again, is it possible that airbnb was hacked, thereby by-passing the security measures that are in place?
Hacked? Of course anything is possible. But it seems to me a long shot, not that much money involved and what would be the point otherwise. Political? Again, not likely. I wonder, giving the OP the benefit of the doubt, were they confused about which site they actually used for the booking. I'm not sure there's another explanation.
There have been no other reports of similar hackings, if that is indeed what transpired. The OP hasn't even bothered to return to the thread . You do the math.
Actually, there is a similar report about Airbnb over on TA that appeared to end up involving the police and a fraud investigation.
I would not return to the thread when everyone says "impossible."
Michael, what's "impossible?"
Ok, I just went to the AirBnB listing. I tried to put a link to this thread in a message to the owner, thinking he might want to respond. When I tried to submit it, I got a pop up block that said, " it appears as though you entered a website, phone number, or email address. This information cannot be exchanged until the booking is complete for your protection. Scams can only occur if you exchange money outside of the system. Please edit your message and try again."
There was the same post on tripadvisor.uk which was deleted by TA.
what's "impossible?"
Meaning "it can't be", which is the gist of all the replies. DebitNM's last post would have been most appropriate to begin a discussion with the OP, asking if he did not get the warning.
I just had the same thing happen to me today with the same apartment. I must have gone on airbnb's website a week or so ago. Today I received an email thanking me for my request. I didn't remember the request, but I have been looking at so many apartments and websites I can't keep track. The apartment looked beautiful, but I was already in negotiations for another apartment. "Pascal Mike" said make me an offer. I didn't realize Airbnb is only supposed to be negotiated on their website because I really didn't remember their website. Anyway, I made an offer and "Mike" accepted. He then asked for my address so he could send me a contract. Well, he sent me the contract and something didn't look right to me. The address was different then on the website. When I hit map on his website 137 Rue du Temple appeared, but his contract said Rue du Temple #37. I emailed this scam artist and said is the contract for #37, which if you google looks shady and a totally different outside appearance than 137, and he said yes, but don't worry. Well, I worried and emailed him that the outside looked totally different from his website. His website shows a beautiful living room with 3 enormous windows overlooking an intersection. 37 Rue du Temple has 2 windows and no intersection. I then looked up a customer service phone number for Airbnb, which was not easy to locate, but I eventually found. I called them and told them what happened. They were happy I did not make a bank transfer and opened a scam report. I forwarded all of my emails, regarding this scam artist, to them. I am happy that I caught this scam, but realize that many people will not. That is why I am posting this with any catch phrases that will help prevent future theft. Here is the original email from "Pascal Mike":
Thank you very much for your booking request.
> We have, however, a lot of requests that come in daily for the apartment
> and would request, if possible, a speedy reply.
>
> Deluxe Home In The Heart Of Paris ! (Web address:
> https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/532723 ) is currently available for your dates
> Mar 25, 2013 - Mar 29, 2013 (4 nights).
>
> We have a special offer. The breakdown would be as follows:
>
> $ 1,600.00
> $ 0.00 (Departure Cleaning Fee)
> ------------
> $ 1,600.00 +
> - 30% (Discount for special offer only)
> ------------
> $ 1,120.00 (TOTAL/Tax included)
>
> Cancellation 100% refundable 15 Days prior to arrival.
>
> Rate is inclusive of:
> Airport transfers, round trip.
> Daily housekeeping.
> Wireless internet access.
> Free Laundry service.
>
> For this special offer payment of $ 1,120.00 must be completed within 7
> days (to secure this booking).
>
> If you would like to proceed I will just need your home address for the
> contract and I will forward as e-mail attachment.
>
> Airport Transfers:
>
> Through popular demand we are offering Round trip airport transfers by our
> private driver to pick-you up at the airport upon your arrival.
>
> Check in & check out:
> Check in time is 1 pm and check out 11 am (there is a flexibility in case
> your plane leaves or arrives at different times) to give the cleaning
> person a chance to properly prepare the apartment for my next guest.
>
>
> Please let me know if you have any questions and how I can further assist
> you.
>
> We look forward to being of service to you.
>
>
> Kind regards,
> Pascal Mike
I hope this is helpful, plus here is the bank transfer information:
Total Booking Charges: Euro 800
Receiver:
Receiver address:
Fast RNT Services
3, Carew Rd, London , N17 8DL, United Kingdom
Sort Code: 30 84 76
Account #: 52 14 40 68
SWIFT/BIC: LOYDGB21775
IBAN: GB41LOYD 308476 52144068
Bank Name: LLOYDS TSB
Bank Address: 105-109 Station Road, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7JL, United Kingdom
I do not see how you could have contacted this chap, or he you, through the Airbnb website. It simply does not work that way. Their software automatically blocks email addresses, telephone numbers, home addresses, etc., until the booking is made, and the money is paid to Airbnb, not the owner.
Something funny here.
A first time poster, with the same issue. For an apartment that is showing $531 a NIGHT fee, offering it for half? And as nukesafe says, you cannot get email info via AirBnB until you've paid. Odd...
Why don't you email this person and see what happens:
Rental House <rental@rntlha.com>? he goes by the name of Pascal Mike and he is offering a beautiful 2 bdrm apt in Le Marais.
When you go to the website listed in filippone's posting, note the web address: it is NOT airbnb.com, it is airbnb.ca NOT the legitimate site.
Otherwise, it looks like the real website; I always double check the url's.
I'm guessing the person's email account was hacked by someone looking for travel inquiries.
The AirBnB website in the UK is airbnb.co.uk so I'm guessing the url with ca is Canada.
It would be gracious of AirBnB to get on here and explain to us how this was possible as I'm sure they know. Probably not though, "ongoing investigation".
I just done a quick check on the airbnb.ca website.
This is the who is details: http://whois.domaintools.com/airbnb.ca
This is the airbnb.com who is: http://whois.domaintools.com/airbnb.com
As one can see two very different registrars.
If you change the language in .com then it becomes something like this:
https://pl.airbnb.com/ This is Polish.
https://fr.airbnb.com/ This is French.
When changing languages there are tow letters in front of website name...well I found that Spanish language website is https://www.airbnb.es/
So it is all very strange.
I'm posting this, as I was looking to see if a rental I was pursuing was a scam. I was going through the flipkey website when I got an email from a Kevin Smith (generic enough?) with an email address of @rntlaha.com. Same free airport transportation and 20% discount. Requested a wire transfer to a bank in the UK (I am in the US).
Similar to filippone, I received the email without being aware of making the request. My email was very similar and the account information is the same:
Total Booking Charges: $ 720.00
Receiver: BTQ Services STI
Receiver address: 88 Church Road, Seaforth, Liverpool, Merseyside, L21 4LW, UK
Sort Code: 30 84 76
Account #: 52 14 47 60
SWIFT/BIC: LOYDGB21775
IBAN: GB78LOYD 308476 52144760
Bank Name: LLOYDS TSB
Bank Address: 105-109 Station Road, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7JL, United Kingdom
Although he reported that this information was outdated and to forward it to a different account:
Total Booking Charges: $ 720.00
Receiver: BTQ Services STI
Receiver address: 88 Church Road, Seaforth, Liverpool, Merseyside, L21 4LW, UK
Sort Code: 30 84 76
Account #: 52 14 40 68
SWIFT/BIC: LOYDGB21775
IBAN: GB41LOYD 308476 52144068
Bank Name: LLOYDS TSB
Bank Address: 105-109 Station Road, Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7JL, United Kingdom
Thank y'all so much for posting, as you spared me from losing a good deal of money.
I was just checking to see if there was any response to my post. I am happy that I was able to forewarn someone because that was my purpose when initially posting. It's funny that skknowles says they received a proposal from flipkey because I do remember being on that website earlier yesterday prior to the scam event. Anyway, Airbnb contacted me today and alerted me on how to use Airbnb and never receive a proposal offsite. I replied by stating that I already contacted www.actionfraud.police.uk, since the bank receiving funds is located in the UK, and that actionfraud.police.uk may be contacting Airbnb. I gave the police all the information plus the Airbnb "scam ticket #" that they provided me. I also mentioned to Airbnb that they might want to contact the host of the propoerty advertised and see if his computer has been hacked. It seems odd that so many people are receiving proposals for properties they never requested.
I just got scammed on an apt in Chamonix---I found it on the Airbnb site, I was a newbie, the apt had no reviews and was "new" All the month was green and available. I emailed the owner/scammer re details and I am pretty certain that when I hit the Book Now I got a very official looking confirmation from Airbn
phoney) confirming that I am booked and a page was attached giving instruction where to send the Euros to the account of "airbnb" in London Barclays with SWIFT cdes Routing etc. I am sure the scammer hacked the Airbnb site to be able to do what they did. I also had red flags though--no bookings on the calendar, little too anxious as to when funds were being sent,could not find the owner when Googled not even a linkdin or facebook entry. The apt was perfect, maybe too much so. The cost was maybe 10 or 20% less than similar ones but I figured they were new on the site and getting it going.I also got a polite form like email from Airbnb that since I dealt with the owner directly(not really true) its sad but too bad. I am like the one who started this blog--I dont really expect the $ back as I should have been more careful but they really need to get on it or their reputation will be ruined. If uo are happy you tell no one if you are unhappy you tell everyone.
It's a scam when they won't refund all of your money when you make a cancellation 20-days in advance as I did. Lost over $145.00 (half as due to me in their fine print cancellation clause). From this experience, nothing beats booking a hotel room even if it is way more expensive.
Sorry for your loss, Gumsandals but, as in all things, do your homework. I don't see how you can call it a scam, though.
The description of each property on Airbnb quite clearly states the cancellation policy. That policy level is one chosen by the owner, not Airbnb. There are several levels, i.e., Flexible, in which you can cancel with one day's notice and get a full refund, Moderate, where you can get a full refund with five days notice, and Strict, where you get 50% refund if you give a one week notice, and Super Strict (which your rental must have had)in which you get 50% back with 30 days notice. Those are pretty rare; by invitation only, and it costs the host an extra 5% fee. You still have to pay Airbnb their fees for all levels, though.
Look at it from the Hosts' viewpoint. If a renter cancels, you have very little hope of filling that rental period with another guest. It is not like you are a big hotel with lots of rooms, and many people trying to book.
You also have the option of contacting the owner and asking if they might be more lenient, if they buy your extenuating circumstances. We have been doing this for our private guest room for about three years, now, and have only had one party cancel on us. They were nice folks, with a good reason, and we gave them back their money.
Unfortunately, this is old news. This scammer has been hitting people who use Homeaway/VRBO for years. Same person, out of London. The marks of the scam are the same. There is a facebook group of victims. Those who hire private counsel get some kind of settlement fro Homeaway/VRBO. You may be able to get the same from Airbnb.
http://www.elliott.org/blog/case-dismissed-the-carefree-rental-guarantee-didnt-cover-her/
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-11-02/lifestyle/35283761_1_tania-rieben-homeaway-property-manager
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-01-26/lifestyle/35437898_1_homeaway-com-web-site-vrbo-com
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/05/16/news/homeaway-says-it-is-merely-like-a-classified-ad-but-phishing-victims-not-buying-it/
http://www.capelinks.com/blog/vacation-rental-phishing-scams/
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Hackers-Phishing-information-from-VRBO-4631442.S.168530909
http://community.homeaway.com/message/51323