How to Spot Fraudulent Airbnb Listings
On a recent Reddit thread, u / brunoflourenco shared his experience of listing on Airbnb in London, which turned out to be fake. “We come, knock on the door, the guy comes out and looks very embarrassed,” they wrote. “We tell him we’re Airbnb guests, and he sighs and says, ‘Guys, the point is that you were deceived.’ You’re the third person to come here looking for this Airbnb, but it doesn’t exist. “
And stories like this are frighteningly common. On AirbnbHell.com – a website dedicated to horror travel stories with a rental website – several users have shared their stories of knocking on the door of their rental housing just to be greeted by a confused homeowner. How can a similar fate be avoided? Always do your research, check the listing, and never pay directly to the host. (Trust us.)
Reverse image find photos of the property and confirm the owner
As we wrote earlier , when an ad looks too good to be true, do a simple Google reverse image search. If you find that property images are scattered across photo websites, this is a good sign that you have stumbled upon a scam. You can even reverse image searches using the host’s profile photo, if available.
“About two weeks ago we got a visit from a gentleman who knocked on our door and asked for ‘Richard’,” wrote one user on AirbnbHell.com . “Whoever created a fictitious Airbnb account brushed photos of our house from VRBO and placed them in a fictitious account.”
In this example, it is possible that the user did not check if the host on Airbnb is the same as the host listed on VRBO. If you find your listing elsewhere, you should contact the hosts yourself.
Also check your host’s profile. See if Airbnb has verified that they have uploaded a genuine government ID or have given them the Superhost badge, which means they have maintained an overall high rating from guests. There is a good chance that you are not being fooled if any of this appears on your profile.
Pay attention to details in hotel photos, including visible addresses or restaurant names. At the very least, you can do a little research and find out if the ad location is up to the mark. Otherwise, when the host provides the address, look at the device on the internet and check both the host and the ad in the photos.
Look at the quality of the reviews
Of course, the easiest way to make sure you have a legitimate ad is to look at reviews. Many reviews are always better than few, especially if they are mostly positive. Sort out any critical reviews and those that mention a bad experience with the host. And be sure to check the cancellation notices; When a host cancels a subscription for any reason, a notification will automatically appear in their property’s reviews. A high number of cancellations is not necessarily a sign of scam, but it is a sign that a host may be peeling away from you at the last minute.
And if the host asks you to cancel, well, that could be a scam too. On a Reddit thread, a host asked a guest to cancel a booking because it suddenly became “unavailable”. If the host cancels, you will usually be given a refund or credit; if you cancel, however, you are lucky enough to receive anything and be subject to this listing’s cancellation policy. Instead, contact Airbnb support if you’re ever asked to cancel your stay.
And if your listing has few or no reviews , check to see if they have reviews for other properties. Take a look at the ad description and make sure it’s detailed enough to appear legitimate. If not, ask the host why the listing has no reviews. Maybe this is just a new listing, which is quite possible.
Do not email or pay directly to the host
In another Reddit thread, one user detailed how a friend canceled their hosting at the last minute. “Two days before arriving in Amsterdam, he receives a message via Airbnb that the owner cannot [rent] anymore in the Netherlands due to illness,” he said. “He’s offering to help by providing you with another room / apartment, of course outside AirBnb, at a different price and payable in cash only.”
There are many red flags here besides last minute cancellations. First, you should never pay directly to the host or through third party payment sites. If you pay through Airbnb, they are more likely to get your money back if you are involved in a scam. (Pay through a third-party site and you may not get the same benefits.) Scammers may even incentivize you by offering “up-front”; in exchange for paying them directly or through another payment site, they will offer you some discount.
Again, don’t give up. You should never communicate with your host outside of Airbnb’s direct messaging system, especially regarding billing. If there is a problem with your Airbnb, their support team will rely on messages sent between you and your host to help resolve the problem. When you communicate by email, you don’t have the same protection. There are, of course, exceptions; sometimes the host may contact you by email to get a copy of your passport or just give you directions. In such cases, you can speak by email, but be careful when clicking on any links, as phishing attacks on Airbnb are quite common.
Be careful with any links and book your trip by credit card
On the Huffington Post, writer Sarah Ruiz-Grossman shared her story of losing $ 3,800 to a phishing scam; In short, she reached out to a potential host who recommended another listing of them on the Airbnb website, which turned out to be a website that only superficially resembled Airbnb. “Their website has the Airbnb logo and the design follows the Airbnb letter,” she wrote. “The URLs looked almost legitimate – they said ‘airbnb.intinerary-booking.com’ and the difference flew past us. Who scrutinizes URLs so closely? ” (She is right.)
As Airbnb recommends on its website , be wary of any links that misspelled or misused the Airbnb URL so that it looks a lot like it. “This Airbnb link starts with https://www.airbnb.com or a country-specific URL like https://es.airbnb.com or https://it.airbnb.com, ” the website says. Airbnb. “If you click on a link that takes you to a page that looks like Airbnb but doesn’t start with that address, it’s a scam page and you should close it.” Airbnb has a complete list of their domains on their website , so you can verify any site you can go to.
And if you need extra protection, always book Airbnb or rent property with a credit card; your card may provide travel insurance or refund payments in the event you are targeted by a scam.