duhhitsdina

I just want to share that I almost got scammed by someone who had a listing on airbnb. I contacted someone through the website and i should have know the price was too good to be true. He contacted me back almost immediately with this response:
"Text me on whats app +1 a(347)685)c(4061)
Let's discuss more, Ensure to remove the letters between
Thanks."
So you see, there is a way that they can get their # to you. I contacted him and got a little suspicious. Especially when he asked for me to make a transfer through western union. I asked if there was a way to pay through airbnb since I know they are legit. His response:
"I'm sorry but we don't take AIRBNB because they charge you $150 and have a new charge of $300 on we the host, While western union charges less than $60"

Also, about an hour later I got an email from airbnb trust. They reached out to me bcuz this person had tried to contact me. So they removed his account and asked for me to halt any communications.

Sassafrass

Really, you did not almost get scammed. Sure, someone tried, but it was so obvious. If you had, it would have been your own fault for contacting the person outside of airbnb.

NewbE

Huh? There was an effort to scam the OP, right? The rest is semantics. Unlike most bewaring posts, I think this one is a useful reminder to stay alert and not let the desire to get a good deal overwhelm one's common sense.

I think the OP should be thanked instead of scolded, surely.

Sojourntraveller

Actually, there is no evidence in what you write duhhits to indicate the owner attempted to scam you. The evidence only indicates the owner attempted to get around paying Airbnb.

It MAY be that the owner was also trying to scam you or it may be that the owner was simply a naive property owner who tried to get around paying Airbnb and wanted payment via Western Union simply because he doesn't have any other way to accept a payment other than on arrival.

Since Airbnb has shown their own willingness to in fact 'get around' the law in many places by saying, 'it's not our responsibility, it is the owner's responsibility to comply with all local laws etc.' I find it somewhat ironic that they object to someone trying to get around their rules.

Try telling Airbnb that the apartment owner next door to you is illegally renting his apartment through them and see what response they give you. They will NOT remove his ad on their site. Where I come from, that's called two-faced.

NewbE

That's some fancy semantics, Sojourn, which I do admire, but your argument doesn't pass the sniff test.

True, we don't know with ontological certainty that the owner in this case is a scammer, but the Western Union bit smells very strongly of a scam. The OP was right to calculate that it was unlikely to turn out well for her.

Saying that Air BnB has legal troubles in some places is a neat way to change the subject--they do, but as long as they are operating legally, the OP is free to use their service, warts and all. These warts include some scamming owners, or "owners", so, as with so many things, it's good to develop some savvy in order to avoid what smells fishy.
(A day for olfactory metaphor, apparently.)