Tony in London - Host running scam of guests

[Tom3318]

I made a booking by mistake as the information was fairly misleading on the advert, and I booked a private room in an apartment rather than a private apartment. Tony the host contacted me to make sure that this is what I wanted, which seemed odd although I thought nothing of it at the time. I explained I had made in error but was happy to keep booking, but host offered a full refund if I cancelled. Only thing is this was offered over the phone and not in messages. I had no reason to suspect he was not being genuine, so I cancelled and he said he would sort out his end for a refund to be processed. 

this is when all contact stopped with Tony, so I contacted support, who contacted Tony for me who told the rep that this had never happened. 

I realise it’s my responsibility to check these things before booking, but surely this falls under a scam as I cancelled the booking on the basis that he said he would refund, I would have kept it if not. I realise I have no proof but just wanted to see what the thoughts were of other people using this app. 

[Katrina314]

@Tom3318 

Don't book again. This "host" is as bogey as the day is long. A quick look at the profile confirms that this is a classic scam outfit, operating since at least 2015 and using a network of fake profiles (Tony, Adam x 2, Andy, Ezgi, Judy, Zenek, Enrique, Ariana, Dana, Camilla, Henry, Magdalena etc) to post hundreds of false reviews as both hosts and guests on a conveyor belt of deliberately confusing and misrepresented listings in London and Poland (each of which they'll shut down when they amass too many bad reviews). Unfortunately, there are thousands of such "hosts" on the platform, with Airbnb seemingly either unable or unwilling to shut them down. 

Scammers like these have a multitude of traps and tricks to swindle guests out of their money, and are effectively aided and abetted in their devious endeavours by the ineptitude and incompetence of both Airbnb's customer service and fraud detection departments

[Katrina314]

@Tom3318 

4 - and probably all 5 - of the reviews on the listing you booked are from fake profiles. What you need to do is click into "Tony's" main profile, to see all his other reviews. Send the profiles of all the names I mentioned in my previous post to Airbnb, and ask them to cross-reference all their reviews both from hosts and from guests, which will eliminate any possible doubt that this is a scam operation. 

Then simply tell them that you want your refund immediately, or you'll take your story to the media. 

Below is the original "parent" profile of this operation, active since 2015 up until this month. The "ID verified Superhost" is in the name of Adam, but the guys behind it are called Tom and Jamie. It appears that their listings are temporarily disabled at the moment, which is why they'll be working off new listings just now. But they'll no doubt be back using this account again soon, as they have been for the past 7 years

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/users/show/45612117

[Tanya629]

@Tom3318 thank you for posting here! I’ve been scammed by this same person and here is the advert - still active as I write

https://abnb.me/45w0XkjSIsb

If this is a scam outfit, we can do something together to alert AirBNb and the authorities. The AirBnB support I’m getting at the moment is treating the host as a regular host, and not a scammer. This account and the listing seem to be designed with the intention  to scam.

[Tom3318]

Yes, Airbnb couldn’t do anything for me and as you say, were treating him as a normal host! Let me know how I can help. It’s disgusting the lack of support and chasing I had to do with Airbnb over a scammer like this, who they protected to the hilt. 

[Huma0]

@Tom3318 the listing you booked does not appear to be active at the moment. I don't know if it's the same place as in the listing @Tanya629 booked, but for sure that listing is totally misleading.

While it says 'private room' under the photos (which means the host has selected the private room category to cover themselves), every other part of the listing, including the title and entire description suggests that you are getting the whole apartment. The reviews also look suspect. Five out of the six are for last minute bookings.

I am not sure what you can do except to keep badgering Airbnb about it. Perhaps you will have more success if you direct them also to @Tanya629 to confirm what has happened. However, as mentioned above, the host technically was within their rights not to refund you if they changed their minds, which I am sure they knew when making the bogus promise. 

Some people have reported that they have some luck posting on Airbnb's social media (Twitter especially, but also Facebook) when they are getting nowhere with customer services. That hasn't been my personal experience, but it's worth a try.

[Tanya629]

Would you like to join our efforts? I’m in touch with another  victim of the same scam on Messenger. 

Please connect if you wish using this link - you will see Abdel’s name in the post and I commented there:

shorturl.at/EFIQW

[Tanya629]

Hi @Tom3318 , I’m getting nowhere with AirBnB ‘Support’. Would you like to discuss a joint letter or other joint attempt at getting our money back? Things like contacting the police, solicitors and/or mainstream media?

[Tom3318]

Yes willing to help however I can

[Helen3]

How were you scammed @Tanya629 ?

[Tanya629]

Hi @Helen3 , it was very similar to @Tom3318 . I saw the ad, it looked amazing and I thought it was lucky to get this. No host / sharing were mentioned in the House Rules. As soon as I booked and paid, the host Richie called me on the phone to say he sent me some important info which I had to confirm. I looked at it and the House Rules said we had to be aware we were sharing with the host, co-host, friends and other strangers, including the bathroom, the host would be present at all times and the guests were expected to be quiet and use the common areas minimally. I texted saying this must be a mistake, it was not mentioned in the ad. The host called me and said I had misunderstood the ad but he was willing to help me cancel properly. I asked would I get a refund and he said yes, it would take 2-3 days depending on the bank. He said he had another reservation request, so if I cancelled straight away, he wouldn’t miss it. I followed his instructions naively and cancelled the reservation. He then didn’t reply any more. I asked for either a refund or access to the property I had paid for, but the ‘host’ disappeared. The listing is still on and AirBnB support have also stopped responding.

Meanwhile, I found  another guest who became victim of the same scam in March:

http://surl.li/ctwkh

So it looks like an organised scam and there may or may not even be an actual apartment.

I feel AirBnB should do a thorough investigation and do better at detecting and eliminating fraud.

Any advice about how to proceed with this would be much appreciated. 

[Helen3]

I'm sorry you found yourself in this situation. As Airbnb says you should keep all communications on their platform. And if the listing isn't as advertised ie says whole listing but is shared then the host should cancel not you. @Tanya629 

Have you tried Airbnb on their social media? 

[Tanya629]

Thank you very much, @Helen3 

I fully understand now how naive it was, but the scammer is always ahead because they planned and often practised the script. It just happened so quickly. Now reading everything carefully, it seems so dumb. But now that we know that they tried the same on several people, I feel AirBnB should so the right thing, rather than treat scammers as genuine hosts. I’ll try going public, yes, it’s definitely a route. Thank you once again for your support!

[Huma0]

@Helen3 

The listing doesn't say whole listing. It says private room, but that's only in the category. Everything else suggests that you are getting the whole apartment. This host is not stupid. They have covered themselves by listing the place as a private room but I am sure deliberately wording the rest in such a way that many people would assume it's an entire unit.

I would probably have searched for an entire apartment if that was what I was looking for, but it's quite possible that guests search within a budget instead. I would have contacted the host before booking to clarify this, but I can see how the less experienced could easily miss the 'private room' categorisation and focus on the title and description instead.

[Inna22]

The problem with these scams also is that no one can leave a review so you can not warn others