Beware of fake Airbnb websites scam

[Yara13]

I recently was almost about to book for a place and the host sent me a website that looks Really identical to the official Airbnb site ,  new users could be easily fooled by this as i almost was, i almost paid through this site since everyone says that its fine to book a place and avoid scams so long you book through the Airbnb website but no one ever mentioned of there being fake identical Airbnb websites that even if you book through the site you will still be scammed and not get a refund, i just wanted to make people aware of this so that they cannot be scammed and lose money through this method.

just beware of this site hopefully Airbnb can take this website down since its impersonating being a trademarked site.

***.

[Link removed for safety reasons]

[Jose4881]

Its possible get back the money? What steps i must to make?

[Sarah977]

I'm not sure what you mean by an album link, but in any case, that wasn't a message from Airbnb. Nothing works like that on Airbnb, you were totally scammed. When you communicate with an Airbnb host, you do it through the Airbnb messaging system, not by Whatsapp or email.

You need to talk to your bank or credit card company (I don't know how you made this transfer) right away, tell them this was fraud and see if they can stop or reverse payment. That's the only hope you have to get your money back. Also report the ad you originally responded to to the site where you first found it.

@Jose4881

[Jose4881]

The link is sumple, if you copy the your link and send me i receive, rigth, and i talk with the lady in app plataform in a email, because the email is There. I talk with this lady now and she tell me tomorrow give me the keys??!! Now i dont know what to do

[Elena87]

@Jose4881 

I talk with this lady now and she tell me tomorrow give me the keys -  Whatever you do, don't send any more cash. Read the link below 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Rental-scam-using-Airbnb-How-should-I-go-forward-if-at-all/...

[Sarah977]

If you didn't go onto the Airbnb site yourself and book this through their site and have the payment automatically deducted from your payment method that you would have added to your Airbnb profile, you don't have a Airbnb booking.

You won't get keys. Trying to stop payment in whatever way you set it, ASAP,  is your only hope of getting your money back.

If you choose not to believe this, that's up to you.

@Jose4881

[Bruna253]

https://airbnb.confirmation-request-pending.com/1/listing/80/view-z5zm0ac7/yo8mhIYy1A 

Another fake!

[Jose4881]

Its true tks

[Mian299]

Fake site, looks almost identical to airbnb

https://www.airbnb.au.travel-holiday.space/rooms/WM264811?source_impression_id=p7_1413qnQNJmy2tNJ1YF...

[Ileana71]

https://airbnb.com3-rooms-acomodationid76421229084.online/676f/apartment-for-rent-lagenhet-att-hyra/...     I guess that this is also a scam. It did sound to good to be truth so I didn’t do any payment. So stressing and annoying that you have to be extra careful with everything nowadays. 

[Sue140]

Real airbnb sites have much more complicated links with lots of other numbers and symbols...

[Paula1721]

https://airbnb.rooms-588833255.com/676f/wohnung-nahe-der-universitat-zurich/ca64ea

another scam!!!! Adiam G reach me via yuruma.ch and offers me a CHF 800 x month flat in Zurich. We spoke via email and then (when i trust in her) she post it on airbnb but of course was a fake website and i didn't notice. They ask me to do the payment via bank to bank transaction and i did it(i feel so bad to didn't notice the scam at this point) then i began to feel something was bad and yes i saw this conversation and several articles that shows this kind of scams. Right now i'm fighting with my bank to try to get my money back. Please be aware!!! don't fall in this never ! you should never make a transfer outside the real airbnb website. 

[Carmella7]

Mine was exactly the same way but the people had different probably fake names, looking at the messages between me and the fake air bnb seem obvious now but at the time i was just 19 my first time looking at property, I desperate for a housing solution,  so i transferred £1,500. Its crazy how air bnb didn't take any responsibility and I'm too having to talk with my bank, financial ombudsman etc hopefully some results..

[Sarah977]

@Carmella7  I'm really sorry you got scammed, but there's nothing crazy about Airbnb not taking responsibility- it's crazy to think they would. How are they responsible for scammers who put up fake web pages? Did Airbnb tell you to send money to this scammer?

If someone faked your ID and stole your credit card information, would you consider yourself responsible for paying the debts they ran up?

[Carmella7]

@Sarah977 Understandable and i somewhat agree, but at the time I was in shock at their reaction, thats all, hence the use of the word “crazy”. I’d hoped there was something...anything that could be done as they had impersonated air bnb specifically. £1,500 was a lot of money to me at the time and I was desperately trying anything to get it back. I still want it back. 

[Sarah977]

@Carmella7  Yes, it's painful to lose that kind of money, but unfortunately I don't think you'll have any luck trying to retreive it. These scammers can't really be tracked down, it seems.

Life is a constant learning experience, and this was an expensive lesson to research how something really works (like going to the official Airbnb site and reading up about how bookings and payments are made before falling for lies about it), and never sending money to strangers you met online.

Something similar happened to my daughter when she was 19, but it wasn't an online scam. She and her friend had bought tickets for flights to Nepal from a travel agent. The tickets were supposed to be mailed, but never arrived and when she phoned the agency, the phone was never answered and messages not returned. It turned out the agency had gone out of business. But because it was a real business with an office, the police tracked down the registered owners and they were made to send the tickets, which in fact they had, but had just kept and perhaps were going to try to cash in.