ROBBED BY AIRBNB EMLOYEE USING SCREEN SHARING

[Tom216]

When I called 415 800 5959 for help to offer a discount the airbnb employee asked me to use screen sharing so I agreed. I never had this request before. Its just not needed. But I took the bait. Once  he was inside my computer he never did use the screen sharing to show me where the buttons to hit were. Three hours later I had a total "account takeover" of my checking account that airbnb uses for my direct deposits as a superhost. He also accessed my savings account as well. He also changed my password so I could not log in to my own account and changed my phone number so that I could not change it back by receiving text messages. 

Further, after making multiple $1000 buys to "Revolut" whoever that is he was blocked, then called my bank and was able to get unblocked and started making more transfers or purchases. he got $8000 before he was stopped. He also was able to transfer $20,000 out of my savings into that same checking account but was not able to spend it before he was caught.

Have not had much success notifying airbnb management about this. Hope this blog post helps.

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

This is so terrible. Sorry, this happened to you.

I have seen other posts that say if you put it on Twitter they respond faster. Hope that helps and hope you get this resolved and your money back ASAP!

[Linda108]

@Tom216   You posted that this employee was caught, so I imagine criminal proceedings will occur and during that the employer, Air BNB will be notified.  Your focus should be how to get your money back, either from the perpetrator or from any insurance that would apply.  Contacting Air BNB by Twitter, Facebook or even calling probably would not be as effective in reaching management as having your attorney determine if Air BNB has liability worth your pursuing.  Corporate Errors and Omissions insurance would cover this sort of situation, I think.

This is an awful breach of trust and I hope you are successful in recovering your losses.

[Tom216]

Aloha Linda. Yes its the breach of trust thing. FYI the bank has agreed to reimburse me in full. But airbnb will no longer have access to my account so I dont know how I will get paid and they need to shut down screen share right away.

[Serge525]

@Tom216 Try setting up a PayPal account which can then have your bank accounts to transfer into. The money can sit in the PayPal accounts which can be used as a bank account with many online "stores".  Make sure you have different passwords / passphrases for each account ...

[Bob297]

revolut is a financial company where you can also buy crypto currency. They probably exchanged your US$ into crypto. I hope Airbnb will reimburse you.

[Colleen253]

@Tom216 Wow. Stunning. Do let us know how you get on with this. I guess trust your instincts is always the best bet, re your hunch on the screen sharing thing. Btw, you should find a new bank. I can't believe they let this guy get as far as he did with all your funds. My bank would have immediately put up a huge firewall.

@Linda108 Where is the post where he mentions the employee was caught?

[Linda108]

In the original post it states "he was caught" on the last line.

[Pat271]

It’s possible that you dialing 1 415 800 5959 and the resulting actions had nothing to do with your account being compromised. There might be a watchdog or some malware from another source on your computer that grabbed your password as you were typing it.

Do you see any charges on your Airbnb account itself? Did someone try to make bookings in your name? And what verification do you have that it was an Airbnb employee who got “caught”?

[Sarah977]

With all these outsourced employees now, I've always thought the potential for this happening is quite possible. 

There are users who've had their accounts hacked who have said they for sure were super careful with their info, no family member or friend had access to their account or credit card info, they didn't have personal info on social media- there was no logical explanation for how their account got hacked unless it was an inside job.

[Colleen253]

@Sarah977 Very good point. Airbnb doesn't even properly train these people. Probably not much of a process for getting vetted or hired etc.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

This is scary 😞

[Elaine701]

Just as a general piece of advice; you should never allow such access to your computer from anybody you don't personally know and trust. AND if any representative of any company ever asks you to do so, just say no. Any legitimate company knows the implications, and would never do that. They have huge legal exposure. As does Airbnb, if it indeed originated there. 

There's a well known scam involving an "employee" of "Microsoft" calling on the phone to "warn" you that they have detected a "virus", and you must give them access to your computer in order to fix it. Millions have been stolen on that scam. 

Never do this. Never. 

If it were indeed an Airbnb contractor, I hope they identify that person and put them through the ringer.  Airbnb could be run through the ringer too. They need to nip it in the bud. 

This is despicable.

[Jillian115]

@Tom216 Wow. That is so scary. I'd try emailing the press department on that one. I'll be they'll make sure it gets routed to the right person. 

[Robin4]

@Tom216 

Tom I am sorry it is too late for you and the damage has been done but to others, do not under any circumstance allow any internet contact to have access to your computer. Billions of dollars a year are lost to scammers doing exactly what they have done to you Tom.

The most popular screen share program is called 'Teamviewer' and this program is used by 80% of scammers to gain access to your computer. Here are a few other popular ones.

• Google Hangouts. ...
• ​Mikogo. ...
• ​Screenleap. ...
• ​Join.me. ...
• ​Chrome Remote Desktop. ...
• ​Slack. ...
• ​Skype.
• Windows Remote Assistant
• Mac messaging App

If anyone asks you to open the site Teamviewer and link via a partner ID and a password hang up immediately, disconnect and report the phone number and internet address to your service provider.

In your instance Tom, you may get assistance from Airbnb, you may not. Be aware that phone support with Airbnb is outsourced (we think) to a company called Arise Virtual Solutions, and phone operators are not sitting in a room at 888 Brannan St San Francisco, or Dublin, or Manilla. They operate individually from their own homes and can reside anywhere in the world. 

You would be best advised to seek legal help Tom, the fact that this individual answered on behalf of Airbnb may not mean a lot because Airbnb can claim he was not an employee and his actions were not sanctioned by Airbnb.

All the best, I hope you can get this resolved satisfactorily.

Cheers........Rob

@Linda108  @Jillian115  @Elaine701  @Branka-and-Silvia0  @Colleen253 @Sarah977 @Pat271