Cyber Scam

[Martin4304]

Hello,

My property is listed by a cyber scammer (by name Fiona) and approaching guests a deal outside the airbnb. I raised a complaint with Airbnb with all the proofs but action from the Airbnb end yet to be initiated. It's been almost 23 days my listings are hacked or suspended/unlisted for No reason. I'm keep sending message/making calls to support team , they say all the time "I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you, we will escalate this issue to the next level and you will get a response within 24 hours but the problem remains unresolved. Scammers are making listing of my property at higher rate and approaching guests outside the Airbnb at higher rate, yesterday one of my past guest wants to book my place and he notified this fraudulent activities happening on Airbnb platform and he immediately called me and gave me an alert. Upon my past guest's intimation, i informed to Airbnb, they assured they will investigate and take action to resolve the issue, let's wait n see.

The fact and reality is, The original property owner's listings (my listings, Superhost) are Suspended/unlisted, not able to receive any bookings, instead Scammer's listings are live on Airbnb.

The particular scammer by name Fiona has totally 480 listings and My property is one among them. 

  

 Note: Above screenshots are the proof about scammer (Fiona) for your reference. I request all the hosts to evaluate the case and  support me. 

The below link is shared my one of my past guest who were trying to book my place

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Thanks & regards,

Martin

**[Sensitive information removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Rose1944]

Hello Martin,

 My property is also being advertised by a cyber scammer and Airbnb are also doing nothing about it!

In fact they seem totally disinterested that there is a clear and obvious scam going on and their only solution has been to tell my partner and I to share details about ourselves and our property that they will share with the scammer so the scammer has the chance to defend themselves!!

We are horrified by this, it has gone from a minor annoyance to feeling like these only way to sort it out is to put ourselves at further risk!

This is the fake advert:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/669172954506003453?adults=1&children=0&infants=0&check_in=2022-12-25&...

[Kate867]

@Rose1944   This as absolutely shocking!  In your position I would not be in a hurry to provide Airbnb with any personal details about yourself or your listing for them to ‘share’ with this scammer.  I note, given the availability on the calendar that ‘you’ are expecting guests in August.  You have given Airbnb the heads up on this already and all you can do is turn away any guests not booked through you as and when they arrive and refer them back to Airbnb/their host for them to deal with.  The scammer may have blocked the dates on the calendar to make it look genuine and accepted a direct booking from them which is the only way he will get paid.  Airbnb do not pay hosts until 24 hours after check in.  Sadly, it is those ‘guests’ who are going to lose out on both a holiday and their cash.

[Rose1944]

We are definitely giving no details to Airbnb to share with the scam hosts and we have asked what the vetting procedure for host is as they say the scammer is fully vetted!!

We are making sure that we are at home on the days there are bookings this month and next so we can send them away. 

Poor people though! We only found out because two potential bookers smelled a rat and got directly in touch with us to check it was legitimate.

[Rose1944]

We are definitely giving no details to Airbnb to share with the scam hosts and we have asked what the vetting procedure for host is as they say the scammer is fully vetted!!

We are making sure that we are at home on the days there are bookings this month and next so we can send them away. 

Poor people though! We only found out because two potential bookers smelled a rat and got directly in touch with us to check it was legitimate.

[Kate867]

@Rose1944   If you still have details of those ‘potential’ bookers then it might be worth getting them to contact Airbnb as well.  Definitely not a good look for Airbnb!  @Sybe  @Emilie @Stephanie is there any way this can be escalated / fast tracked to stop people losing their hard earned cash?

[Rose1944]

Thank you, I have contact details for one of them and I will see if they will flag it up. 

 I have flagged it using the flagging button, as has my partner on his account, and the listing is taken down, but after an hour or so it pops back up again! So I thought enlisting help from others to flag it would be a bit pointless.

[Quincy]

Hi there @Martin4304 @Rose1944, I'm very sorry to hear that you're experiencing this. Just so you know, I've passed what you've reported here on to the team. 

[Rose1944]

Hi Quincy,

  I am very happy to report that the listing has been taken down and seems to be staying that way. 

  We had several further contacts with people who had almost fallen for the scam and directed them to flag the listing, as was suggested.

  Thank you for everyone who helped make this happen!

[Quincy]

This is great to hear @Rose1944! Thanks for sharing this here 😊

[Rose1944]

  After a couple of weeks of peace, we started getting calls from scammed people again and the advert is back up again with a new host. 

  All I can say is Airbnb must have the shoddiest vetting procedure known to humanity. One of the scammed groups actually phoned up the Airbnb support as they couldn't get in touch with the owner and were assured that it was all above board and to turn up at the property.

  Unfortunately we are fully booked with legitimate guests for this summer so have no space to accommodate anyone, plus they have to wait for two weeks to get a refund apparently! 

  I feel so sorry for them!

The new advert:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/686280622066061179?adults=2&children=0&infants=0&check_in=2022-12-30&...