Rental scam using Airbnb? How should I go forward, if at all?

[Elizabeth103]

I have been trying to find an apartment and found a listing on a popular rental website (not Airbnb). We started e-mailing, and the owner told me that he lives in Spain and will be using Airbnb's services for payment. It didn't seem strange until this last email. What bothers me about this is that it doesn't seem to follow any of Airbnb's practices. It also threw up other rental scam red flags, such as the fact that he wants me to pay before seeing the property, he's asking for my personal information outside the Airbnb platform, and the place doesn't come up on the Airbnb search list. Here is the portion of the most recent e-mail that I find odd, copy/pasted, edited for clarity:

"If you decide to proceed with this transaction, I will need your phone number along with your full name and address where you can be contacted for the keys and the rental contract. Then I will start the process through Airbnb here in Spain, providing them your information. Next you will receive a notification message from them, containing a receipt with all the instructions that you need to follow in order to complete the process and receive the keys and the rental contract.
Regarding the payment, you will get all the necessarily [sic] instructions on the invoice, so you can deposit the money for the first month along with the warranty, into an escrow bank account from AIRBNB. They will hold and insure your money until you check the apartment and decide if you want to rent it or not.
As soon as you will complete the deposit of $1,100 + $1,100 = $2,200 into their bank account, an agent from Airbnb will meet and show you the property. You will be given one day inspection period to take a decision and [in case you are not satisfied with the apartment], next day the total amount will be refunded to you by Airbnb. If you'll like the flat then you can keep the keys, sign the contract, and we will fix a date for the monthly payment, that it has to be done by you directly to my personal bank account."

There's a lot about the whole exchance that seems quite.... off. The more I think about it, the stranger it sounds. There is nothing on Airbnb about "escrow accounts," etc. It just smells terribly fishy, and I want to make certain that my eagerness and need for a place to go doesn't get me ensnared into some scammer's net. 

So, what are your thoughts on this? 

[Sarah977]

@Mafalda0   If you got the same text, it really doesn't matter what the guy's name is. You can be sure it's not his real name anyway. It's a scam. I would avoid all these "other websites" where people claim they list through airbnb, but then send you these long letters. If you want to rent a place, go directly through the airbnb, or other legitimate booking platform, so you don't lose your money, with no recourse.

[Javier156]

I have recently received a similar rental scam, be careful!:

1st email:

Hello and thank you for your interest,

I just saw your email regarding our apartment located in Untere Donaustraße, 1020 Wien, which is still available.
The 49 m² apartment located on the 3rd floor with lift is very nice, clean, quiet and ready to be rented for any period, preferably as long-term.
The rental price is 600 € / month including services (water, gas, electricity and cable).
Two months security deposit € 1200 is required and will be refunded when you move. Two months notice before you leave is required.
We are looking for a person or family responsible to occupy and maintain it. It is very important to know who is going to live in my apartment because I want a good person.
As I am not an agency, I want to know something about you (age, occupation, lifestyle or whatever you think makes you a good tenant). I hope you do not mind. We believe that trust and honesty are the most important.
Something about us...Me Maria, 44 years old working as Chemical Engineer and Martin, 47 years old, General Manager. Together we have a beautiful daughter Elliza, 17 years old.
You can take the apartment immediately or you can opt for a later date - whichever is more convenient for you.
If you are interested in the apartment, I would be happy with a future contact.
Anything, do not hesitate to ask.

2nd email:

Hello again and thanks for answering me,
We are living and working in Germany and because of my work schedule we can not come to show the apartment and finish the rental transaction. More then that next week my company will hire new staff and i am in charge of their training.
The solution we chose to finalize the transaction is provided by www.airbnb.com , is the largest site of rental brokers ( for short and long terms ) in the world so they will handle both the delivery and payment problems support. Transaction commission will be paid by me of course.
In the past I was using the Airbnb website to rent the apartment for short periods, but now I do not have much time to introduce all the people to the apartment, every day or every week, that's why I chose to rent the apartment for a long period. Rental contract ( Mietvertrag ) it will be completed by them in accordance with the Austrian laws regarding rentals.
And finally the normal requirements 1 month rent and 2 months deposit. I hope to hear from you soon and I will explain more about how we will make the deal because you are not the only one interested, i have others person.
Thank You

3rd email:

Hello,

I am a longer member of airbnb and used with all my tenants. The system always was the same and the transaction ended always without any problems.
The procedures was the same...I will enter in my airbnb user account and open the booking for long term rental. Let the keys and tenant details. They will check and approve the transaction and will send to the tenant the booking confirmation and invoice. Once the tenant will get it, it will have a deadline of 48 hours for payment of the first month plus deposit ( 1800 Eur ) which must be paid to airbnb. As soon as airbnb will receive the money, they will select an appointment for a tour of  apartment with one of their agent. After the home visit, you can sign the contract, so I get the money or if you decide for whatever reason not to hire, they will refund your payment in your bank account.
Now because i have other persons interested and i must give a answer to them please let me know if you are agree with airbnb terms and conditions and send me your details (name, first name, date of birth, address, phone number, period of rent: when it start - for 2 years ) so i can open the long term booking process.

Thank you

Fortunately, I never replied to that email!!!

[Jody34]

Did you ever find out if the was a scam? My daughter got a similar message in Florence. We're trying to figure this out as we speak

[MariaCamila3]

Another email to add to this list! Found a great apartment (too good to be true) on apartments.com and hit the contact button. Received an email from the "owner" about a week later. 

Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to look at my apartment. I'm the owner, my name is Anthony Wayne.
Now a few words about the place. The apartment comes fully furnished, is very clean, quiet, and you can move in immediately. It has cable TV, high-speed internet, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer. There are two parking spots and if you prefer to use your own furniture there is a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture. Well behaved pets are allowed. The area is just great and a very safe neighborhood.
The monthly rent is $550 - utilities included (Cable, water, sewer, electricity, heat) and please note that the rent is for the entire apartment. I am looking for someone to rent anywhere from 1 month to 5 years or more. Most of the time I'm offshore, I inspect oil rigs for a living and I'm looking for a responsible person that can take a very good care of my apartment. I had some bad tenants and now I had the property completely refurbished (see attached photos). As you can see I am not after a high profit, but after good tenants who will treat my property as their own home and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself.
The property is being managed by Airbnb and they will handle the whole rental process since I work offshore for the time being.
If you want to know more about the rental process please get back to me and I will send you the step by step procedure.

Find attached more photos and let me know if you like the apartment.

Regards,
Eng. Anthony **

Of course, I fell for it at first, but then the follow-up email...

Hello again Camila,
The unit is in an apartment complex. As I already told you in my first email, Airbnb will handle the renting process in my behalf due to my offshore job. I will have to contact the Airbnb agency and provide them all the necessary information so they can start the rental process. For that I will need your full name, rental period with exact move-in date, if other persons will be living with you, your email, phone number and a copy if your ID or Passport if possible.
 To secure the apartment you will be instructed to pay just the security deposit of $500 to Airbnb to confirm reservation ( which is fully refundable in case you don't like the apartment ). Only once the deposit is paid an agent will be assigned to handle the visit/ inspection so you will not be able to visit the apartment before the reservation. (Aibnb is a 20 billion dollars company but it has to manage more than 1,500,000 locations, so they would need an impossible number of agents to present every location they have without a deposit confirmation)
 Once you confirm the payment you'll have two options, I could send you the keys by FedEx or you can meet the agent that will hand over the keys and rental agreement. Please note they require up to 48 hours to process your payment and rental details before they assign the agent that will handle the walk-through and all. The $500 security deposit will be refunded immediately if you don't like the place or once the contract will end if you decide to rent. ( but only If the apartment is not vandalized or something).
 If you are satisfied with the apartment all you have to do is to provide a valid ID, pay the first month rent and sign the lease agreement. After you move in, the monthly payment will be sent directly to my bank account.  If that is acceptable please provide the requested details and I will submit your application right away. I will send the Airbnb reservation offer to your email and you can take it from there.

Very important !!   Please reply only if you fully understand the process as I have been disappointed lately with unserious persons when it comes to reserving. I'll have to pay for the transaction fees and just in case you change your mind I will not receive a refund from them!

You will find attached a photo of my passport for more transparency.

Regards,
Eng. Anthony **

He actually attached a "photo" of "Anthony **'s" passport. So ridiculous that this is a new way to scam people. I was really excited thinking I had fun the perfect apartment for graduate school. NOPE. 

Don't fall for it people. 

P.S. this was in Raleigh, NC just fyi.

[Elisa184]

Exact same thing with a girl name Ann's passport 

As I already told you in my first email, Airbnb will handle the renting process in my behalf due to my offshore job. I will have to contact the Airbnb agency and provide them all the necessary information so they can start the rental process. For that I will need your full name, rental period with exact move-in date, if other persons will be living with you, your email, phone number and a copy if your ID or Passport if possible.
 To secure the apartment you will be instructed to pay just the security deposit of $500 to Airbnb to confirm reservation ( which is fully refundable in case you don't like the apartment ). Only once the deposit is paid an agent will be assigned to handle the visit/ inspection so you will not be able to visit the apartment before the reservation. (Aibnb is a 20 billion dollars company but it has to manage more than 1,500,000 locations, so they would need an impossible number of agents to present every location they have without a deposit confirmation)
 Once you confirm the payment you'll have two options, I could send you the keys by FedEx or you can meet the agent that will hand over the keys and rental agreement. Please note they require up to 48 hours to process your payment and rental details before they assign the agent that will handle the walk-through and all. The $500 security deposit will be refunded immediately if you don't like the place or once the contract will end if you decide to rent. ( but only If the apartment is not vandalized or something).
 If you are satisfied with the apartment all you have to do is to provide a valid ID, pay the first month rent and sign the lease agreement. After you move in, the monthly payment will be sent directly to my bank account.  If that is acceptable please provide the requested details and I will submit your application right away. I will send the Airbnb reservation offer to your email and you can take it from there.

Very important !!   Please reply only if you fully understand the process as I have been disappointed lately with unserious persons when it comes to reserving. I'll have to pay for the transaction fees and just in case you change your mind I will not receive a refund from them!

You will find attached a photo of my passport for more transparency.

Regards,
Eng. Anne Crouch

[Syed-Aftab0]

SCAM ALERT........!!!!

Hello Everyone, 

I am in Porto and I was lookig for an Apartment. I saw one apartment on one of the sites and sent a message. I got a series of messages from a guy that was trying to rent me a very nice apartment. All his emails are given below. It is a SCAM...!!!! Please be careful and don't fall for it. These People are using different names and slightly modified mails to SCAM people. So be careful. The set of Emails I got from the guy are given below.

Email#1 (was in Portuguese since I am in Porto, ...Man they are good 😛 )

Obrigado pelo seu interesse em ser o meu inquilino.

Meu nome é [name hidden] e tenho 44 anos. Eu comprei este apartamento para meu filho durante seus estudos, mas agora ele está de volta para casa em Itália permanentemente.

Antes de ir mais longe eu gostaria de saber algo sobre você, como quantas pessoas você pretende viver no apartamento, qual é o seu trabalho, quantos anos você tem.

O apartamento está localizado em [address hidden]
O apartamento é exatamente como nas imagens, totalmente mobiliados, totalmente equipados, para que você não vai precisar de nada para se deslocar em (você também pode trazer suas próprias coisas móveis, se tiver).
O aluguel mensal é € 400 para apartamento incluindo todos os serviços públicos (Internet / água / gás / electricidade / aquecimento / TV a cabo)..

Curto ou longo prazo de arrendamento ?! A locação é flexível, min estadia de 1 mês - max 8/9 anos. O preço não vai aumentar mensalmente, ele permanecerá o mesmo para todo o período que o contrato será assinado.

Sobre animais .. não há problemas se você tem animais de estimação, contanto que você limpar depois deles!

O único inconveniente é que o meu trabalho não me permite sair de Roma, mesmo para um único dia. Acabamos de contratar pessoal novo e eu estou no comando de seu treinamento. Mas isso não vai afetar você em tudo.

Eu posso fazer arranjos para alugar o apartamento de Roma (em minha despesa é claro).

PS: Como você viu eu não falo muito bem a língua portuguesa. Se você sabe inglês melhor, por favor me escreva de volta em inglês.
Ficarei a aguardar notícias suas.
Obrigado

Email#2

Thanks for your reply,

You seem to be a very nice person and I can assure you we will not have any problems.

The apartment has been up kept properly and had a professional, top-to-bottom cleaning.

Like I have inform you before, the price you shall pay for 1 month of rent will be €400 for whole apartment and I want also a security deposit of €800 (the security deposit €800 you will receive back at the end of the contract), with no extra taxes to pay. The rent, I want to receive them monthly to my bank account, so I hope it will be no problem for you to send the money in my account.

The apartment is ready for you, all you have to do is to check it and see if you like it. 
In order of that, I've found a way for us to complete the deal safely and fast so you can check the apartment in less than 3 days. Nobody can help me to show you the apartment because I don't know the neighbors very well.
The solution I've chosen is provided by Airbnb, they handle rentals for people who are unable to solve them alone, which are abroad etc., so they will take care both the inspection and payment.

If you are interested so please email me.

Email#03

I want to take this opportunity to assure you that there is nothing to be worried about this rental. You can see on my announcement that I've positive feedback with Airbnb and they verified my personal ID.

I will try explain to you step by step how this will work, take a few moments and read my email carefully!

First you must reserve the apartment for one month and after you've made the booking, you must complete the payment. In 2-3 days after your payment confirmation the agent from Airbnb will come to present you the apartment and give you the contract. The contract is signed by me and you can choose to rent my apartment for long or short term period. The monthly rent will be the same for whole period.

Once you inspected the apartment you have two options:
Option 1: You will take the apartment and sign the contract for long or short term period.
Option 2: But I don't think you will use this option, you'll tell to the agent that you don't want to rent my apartment and Airbnb will refund you the money in 48 hours.
End of the deal!
I've chosen Airbnb because they offer a guarantees for both of us.
I will get paid only after you confirm that you will rent my apartment.

I need your full name and a mobile number so I can send you the link to my announcement.
Let me know if this is acceptable.

I did not do any further communication with the guy since I realized that it is a SCAM, however I have seen from some other experiences that they can even send you a FAKE Airbnb link, to the apartment and then will ask you for a bank transfer outside.  I am just sharing the story for everyone to be careful and don't fall for it. 

[Rosemary54]

this is a big scam.. don't send a dime. dont send no personal information..dont be bothered ... seek a reputable rental agency in which you can sit down with a licensed realtor and negotitate face to face..  all this how you can't see the person you renting from and how he is so unavailable is a joke...  please... if he is unavailable you should be unavailable also....

rosemary 

[Mafalda9]

Hi. Can you give me the guy name? 

I saw a place in Lisbon in a different website and requested more information.

They awsner me yesterday afternoon with exact same text. Plus, now i searched for the pictures on google and it leads to a greek real state website. Omg!

Thanks for sharing

[Debbie130]

I checked in to the same apartment. Listed at 60 E Spring. Remember the saying, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. The first thing I did was check the county auditor's website to see if this Ann owned property in this county and there was no listing. I explained to her that I would not be sending any money in advance to "see the place."

Have not heard a thing back.

Buyer Beware!

[Roshni2]

Same thing happened to to me today!!! Totally seemed like a scam and glad i did some reserach. 

[Dennis81]

Hello! Thank you for informing the airbnb community. I have also received the same email from Ms. Anne Crouch! Funny thing, isn't it? Well thank you once again cause I could have fell into her trick.

[Maggie87]

Hello. I juts received this email from Ann about a property. I'm assuming you didn't go through with it? Or did it pleasantly surprise you? Thank!

[Roshni2]

I am not following through with this, i have not replied to her email. I would stay away if i were you!

[Nicholas70]

I just got the exact same thing!!! Same name same exact emails, everything! Knew it was too good to be real, thank you for sharing this so I didn't get scammed out of 500$

[Patricia498]

Just seen this thread, same happened to me this week in Berlin. I am looking for permanent accomodation (not just a holiday let) on a German property website and was contacted by a guy (via email) who offered me a flat that was too good to be true. Luckily I got suspicious early enough and give him any more details or any money. 

He asked me to book this through AirBnB where he had marketed it as well and made it quite urgent as he apparently had quite a lot of interest (any top floor modern 126m2 flat in Prenzlauer Berg would be gone within hours btw ....)

Here are his emails: 

Hello,

  I am the owner of the apartment, and i'm happy to let you know that my apartment is presently available even for long and short term periods. I bought this apartment for my daughter during her studies in Berlin, but now she's back home in Italy, so I'm renting the place for unlimited time ( preferable for long periods).
The apartment is exactly like in the pictures. The utilities (cold/hot water, electricity, wireless broadband Internet, digital TV, 1 parking spot, dishwasher, garbage disposal, microwave, refrigerator, washing machine, etc.) are included in the price.
Before we go any further I would like to know a little something about you, like how many persons you intend to live in the apartment, and for how long.

Thank you

Quarantino **

Next one:

Hi,

  Unfortunately i cant be present to deal in person and we need a safe way to complete this deal, this is why I posted the apartment also on Airbnb.com, because it's one of the biggest renting websites from the world, and i have a great feedback there. The price will not increase for the whole period that you will stay there.
If you are really interested to rent it, i need your name and your address where i can send you the legal contract and the key from apartment.
I am requesting the first month + 2 month deposit warranty.
After that i can give you the link and you can make everything through them.
Thank you

And the next one: 

So, make the booking and payment through airbnb, and you will receive the key and the contract in 48 hours! As soon as you receive the key, you make the inspection of the apartment! In case that after the inspection you decide to not stay into the apartment, you send me the key back, the contract is null, and airbnb will return the money to your bank account! In case that you decide to remain into apartment, you sign the contract, and contact airbnb to confirm your decision! After your confirmation airbnb will send the money to my account! I hope that I was clear! Please decide fast, because I have other persons expecting my answer and I need to know what to do!

P.S. If you are agree with my conditions, please send me your complete details and also in my next email I will give you the link with my auction from airbnb! Heating is included in the rental price!