Host account hacked - payout changed

[Anna9692]

Hello Airbnb hosts

My hosting account was hacked back in September of 2019, I'm guessing during a  reported system wide security breach when hosts were able to see other hosts information. My payout information was switched to a fake PayPal account with an unresolved domain name.( batterhome.com)

The hacker was able to switch OFF  all the push notifications, as they switched payments between my bank account and this PayPal account several times over the course of October and November.  I  received no notifications to my email, each time the switch happened. When I ran my quarterly report end of Dec, is when I noticed this. Upwards of 15K has been redirected to this fake account

I have contacted PayPal and had them close that account

I have been calling airbnb everyday, and they keep saying the case is being handled by Trust and Security. No real answers or responses from this team. 

Has anyone else seen something like this and what actions have you taken to recover the stolen money.  Is there any recourse?

I assume I am not the only one this has happened to

I look forward to hearing anything from the community

[Helen427]

hello @Anna9692 and welcome to ABB CC from across the miles in New Zealand.

Sorry to read this has also happened to you.

Have you tried using related keywords in the searchbox here in CC to see if others have had any resolution with this very serious Privacy & Financial Crime incident?
Did you report it to Police to also follow up on, as Computer & Financial crimes are there Department to investigate?

@Catherine-Powell, is this something you or @Brian would please be so kind to follow up on to give those impacted on an update and contact @Anna9692 as a way forwards?

Thanks

[Anna9692]

Thank you @Helen427 . Correction to my original message. The breach happened Sept 2020 not 2019

[Anna9692]

Hello all, I just heard back from airbnb. They are reimbursing me for all the unauthorized payouts.  I literally want to do cartwheels 

[Catherine-Powell]

Thanks for alerting me to this @Helen427.

@Anna9692 I'm so sorry to hear that your account was hacked. I spoke to the team about this and I can see that they have already been in touch with you to resolve the issue.

I'm so glad they were able to help you here, and I wish you the best of luck in continuing your hosting journey.

Best, Catherine

[Maurizio431]

Hello Catherine,

I made some recent posts in the community and reached out to help many times. Airbnb Trust was quick in responding to get the account payout preferences back to normal, but my PIN and Security questions are now not my own, because they were edited after a unauthorized access from New Jersey in April 28, 2022. This case in ongoing i suppose, but waiting in uncertainty is quite difficult.

I know that a fraudulent Payoneer card was issued sometime between April 29 and June 5th. which was just before our high season arrivals.

Strangely, there was one payout made to my original bank account 6 weeks after the Payoneer card was issued and then the payout preferences were changed again to a IBAN account ending in 7560. Again this was not my account and more funds were diverted accounting to 70% of our high season earnings. This was catastrophic.

 I want to do everything i can to secure my account and make all efforts towards a claim for potential reimbursement. It would greatly reestablish my Trust in the platform and dispute resolution capabilities in if a positive outcome was reached. If there is anything more i can do or if there is reference materials you can suggest it would be a great help.

Kind regards,

Maurizio431

[Lance--Katie--Jell-and-H0]

Hi @Catherine-Powell 

Our account has been breached 4 times in the past month with different paypal accounts added. We have changed email addresses and password but it continues to happen. Are there any additional security measures that can be added on Airbnb?

Thank you

[Glenda134]

it just happened to me too! the below image shows the paypal account that someone put in Airbnb system and i didnt get my payout. i have been ROBBED and Airbnb is not taking responsability.

[Erica-And-Paul0]

Hi @Catherine-Powell , could you help me and the above user on this, too?

The same thing happened to me, too. On Tuesday 3/2, someone logged into my account and deleted all my payout methods. A few emails from Airbnb came in a foreign character language and got sent to my spam folder. A new PayPal email address, “catarinafierswje79@gmail.com”, was added to my account without my consent.

I didn’t even realize this until I got an email from Community Support two days later acknowledging suspicious activity on my account and requiring me to reset my password. I did so and that’s when I discovered the payout methods missing as well.

On 3/5 was when I realized the payout method had been added because I got an email stating the payout was released.

I immediately contacted support and their response was “there has been no unauthorized access to your Airbnb account”

I replied and offered to send the documentation to the support specialist.

[Randy489]

I am also having this issue.  I will get an email in a foreign language that states, did you just make a change to your payout.  After I go into my account I can see that someone gains access, adds a PayPal account, and changes my default payout method.  This has happened 8 or 9 times in the last 72 hours.  I have called Airbnb numerous times and get reassured that it is resolved.  I've been breach twice so far today.

I have also changed my password, using a series of strong combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols, at least 10 times.  I've cleared any saved passwords in Google and Windows.  I've also tried changing the password on my Android device and in Windows to no avail.  

Really need help on this one!

[Randy489]

[Charlene170]

@Randy489 

@Erica-And-Paul0 

@Glenda132 

@Brian 

@Catherine-Powell 

hello fellow hosts, are you still experiencing account takeovers by the hackers. To stop this Airbnb has suspended my account while they figure out what is going on but their feedback has been really vague and currently I am not listed or receiving payouts or bookings. 

I am desperate and would appreciate some advice. All my trust in Airbnb has evaporated 😞

[Colleen253]

@Randy489  Someone posted recently about a similar hack situation, although not involving payout rerouting, and it turned out the hacker was able to add themselves through 'teams', make their own password and continue making changes to the account.  

 https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/My-Airbnb-account-was-hacked-here-is-what-happened/m...

[Charlene170]

@Randy489  this is exactly what is currently happening to me. I am now hacked daily. Also get foreign push notifications and alerts and get payments diverted and my email address changed. I have made contact with the service desk countless times over the past 3 weeks. They simply come back every time and say I must change my password. I have over the past two weeks

- reset my iphone completely

- installed a brand new hard drive on my laptop

- spent so much money on antivirus and malware detection software

- had my work security team look at my devices

- changed my password every time the account take-over happened to a pw I have never used before

- changed my email password and added 2FA

- now have pws for Airbnb and my gmail stalled in a password vault with 3 factor authentication. 

and it’s STILL happening. What is really disappointing is that Airbnb doesn’t take this seriously. 

@Catherine-Powell, are you aware of what is happening to hosts and how we are being exposed?  I am a super host and have worked so hard for my all star rating, but I feel I am not protected AT ALL by Airbnb. I have lost so much faith in the brand. I am now at a point where my account has been suspended and payouts halted while they investigate the matter so I can take no bookings and do not come up in search results at all. But I agreed to it because my nerves can’t take the takeovers any more. 

is it possible to understand how and why this is happening and what Airbnb is doing about it??? . It makes me deeply concerned about Airbnb’s security systems. 

[Charlene170]

@Catherine-Powell  apologies, it looks like you weren’t linked to this message.