This is a scam warning to hosts!

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

This is a scam warning to hosts!

I don't know how widespread this might be. I haven't seen anything here on the CC yet so I am posting this as a new thread to get as much attention from fellow hosts as possible.

This morning I opened my emails and I immediately focused on this one ..........

Phishing.png

 

I was intrigued by the title 'Bank Transfer Reversal'! It struck me as odd because Airbnb are up to date with their payouts and I wasn't expecting anything for a few more days....... but the message looked genuine. So I hovered my mouse over the various links and it appeared that they would work, they would lead me to something if I were to click on one of them!

I next studied the server address and at that point I smelled a rat. I had a notification exactly the same as this one in October 2017 when Australian hosts had that Airbnb payout saga, so I went back through my screenshots and sure enough the server address was different, in the genuine mail it was simply, (automated@airbnb.com) so I then accessed all the current Airbnb Server addresses, here is a list of them.......

 

  • @Airbnb.com
  • @airbnbaction.com
  • @airbnbmail.com
  • @Airbnb.zendesk.com
  • @e.airbnb.com
  • @express.medallia.com
  • @ext.airbnb.com
  • @guest.airbnb.com
  • @host.airbnb.com
  • @noreply@qemailserver.com
  • @outreach.airbnb.com
  • @research.airbnb.com

If it's not sent from one of these addresses, it’s not from Airbnb.

@airbnbinc.com is not a genuine Airbnb server address. I still don't know quite how the information in the payout method would help them! It strikes me they would need passwords and pins to actually access the account for withdrawal purposes, but I don't know enough about current technology to speculate on that. They have obviously gone to this effort for a reason!

 

If any hosts receive an email like this, please study the server address and if it is not one of the 12 I have listed here, don't open any of the links, just discard it to your junk mail and report it to CX. 

These scam artists are definitely getting smarter, I would have thought an email like this would go straight into my junk folder but there must have been enough information in it for my spam filter to think it was genuine! 

 

Please be alert guys!

 

Cheers......Rob

 

 

 

25 Replies 25

OMG, I discovered that I have received some mails from "noreply@airbnb.com" and that I have opened  the link..

The I discovered that someone had changed my payment method and changed the bank account so the payments for december customers have been transferred to an account number which does not belong to me !!

I'm still trying to get Airbnb to give me the full accountnumber as they have transferred the money and I was not aware that (apparently) some hacker have changed my payment method!!

 

Have someone experienced this as well?

 

Annemieke

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Annemieke10 

 

noreply@airbnb.com  is a legitimate Airbnb mail address Anne. The part that picks it is what comes after the @. There can be all sorts of things before the @ but what comes after that determines if it is genuine.

Go back to my original post here and you will see the 12 current genuine server addresses and........ @airbnb.com  is at the head of that list of acceptable correct addresses.

What has happened in your instance Airbnb have picked up that someone other than you has attempted to alter your account details and Airbnb have alerted you to this fact and that email was to get you to contact Trust and Safety..

 

I am sorry that this has happened to you but, what has happened is not because you responded to that mail. The hacker got into your account before that, and that mail was to warn you that interference with your account was happening!

 

Cheers......Rob

Hi Annemikeke,

Did Airbnb CS fixed this problem?

I just had the same problem and I can see the hacker added "xxxx@airbnb.cam"  (cam, not com) paypal account as DEFAULT payment on my payment method. 

I had to call three times to Airbnb CS and finally I could speak to *payment method specialist*, but she didn't do anything, she just said "Ok, I just open the ticked for your issue, and will someone email you, have a good day".   This is very typical way the CS handle issues.  

It's my account, but there is no "delete" or  "change" or "edit" links for this fake account and showing "default" payment.  😞

Thank you,

Mari

 

 

Jody79
Level 10
Chicago, IL

Thank you for bringing this to our attention @Robin4 ! It's scary how these phishing and scamming emails have gotten more and more sophisticated! It's a real problem everywhere, at work and personal emails as well. I'd like to think that I wouldn't fall for one of them, however they are getting more and more difficult to detect...increasing the odds that I will at some point. 😞

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Ann72  @Susan1404  @Lehel1 @Pat271  

 

I now understand why spammers are doing this and @Annemieke10  has provided the answer. I know I am a bit thick and I should have seen it before!

They are doing this to re-direct where future host payouts are to go. They are using this as a starting point to redirect legitimate payouts to another account.

 

Please everyone be aware, and if a payout doesn't come when it should, don't wait, get onto support straight away and let them know! 

 

This could also be the reason other posts here are complaining they are not receiving their payouts!

 

Cheers.....Rob

@Robin4- thanks for posting the warning.  Hopefully it will never be an issue for me, but at least I wont be blindsided!

Jaime-and-Martha0
Level 2
México D.F., Mexico

Thanks for warning! I received this message By Email and SMS from express@airbnb.com    BUT NOT IN THE AIRBNB WEBSITE¿ is it legitimate os Scam? 

 

Hello! I am Nika. Soon I'm having a business trip to Mexico and I was thinking to book your apartment that you have listed on Airbnb. But there is one moment that I would like to share with you. The thing is that I am actually not planning to stay in your household, but to stay at my friend's house instead. Here's my suggestion. Book your apartment, never move into it and just share the rental fee my employer is going to pay as a part of my business trip expenses. Does it sound like a plan to you? If you are interested to earn some easy money and help me to achieve that as well, please get back to me soon. You can contact me in wathsap. This is my numbra plus 7 9 sseven seven 9 4 1 zeroo and 6 one and zerro

@Jaime-and-Martha0 

Jaime, or Martha, this is a common recognised scam and we have seen this exact email here on the CC quite a few times over the past couple of months.

Do not respond to it but report the profile to Airbnb!

 

If it seems too good to be true....you can be sure it is, you will get duded!

 

Cheers......Rob 

Jaime-and-Martha0
Level 2
México D.F., Mexico

Thanks a Lot Rob!

It seems Airbnb intercepted this profile before it reached my messages Inbox.  Good Job!

@Jaime-and-Martha0 

Good on you guys.....if you want to know how this scam works, check out this latest thread by Rich & Yan.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Beware-the-quot-Let-s-split-the-payment-quot-scam/td-p/1...

 

With things as tough as they are just now in the hosting community, the last thing we need is to scammed for something we don't even get. Should be enough evidence to involve police action in this one!

You didn't get caught, that's the main thing!

 

Cheers.....Rob

 

Jaime-and-Martha0
Level 2
México D.F., Mexico

Thanks a Lot Rob,

Fortunately we didn't fall in this Scam, Even if we are not native English speakers we could notice some faults, specially calling my place an apartment when it is actually a  ( not showing off) huge place, and NOBODY come here for business 😉  

Best Regards