Guest with fake ID Robbed Me, Sublet property to 4 people and Airbnb Is Closing My Case

[Nargiz11]

Hello Airbnb Community,

I am reaching out in desperation to share a deeply troubling experience I’ve had with a fraudulent guest ** and the challenges I’m facing with Airbnb’s support system.

The guest used a fake identity to book my property. Not only did she rob me and steal my identity, but she also illegally sublet my property to four individuals, charging them a full year’s rent in advance ( I have fake tenancy agreements with my signature on it). This has caused me significant financial and emotional distress.

I reported this incident to the police, and an investigation is ongoing. Unfortunately, I cannot provide an official police report yet, as it will only be available after the investigation concludes. However, I have shared an email from the police as preliminary evidence with Airbnb and police reference number.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Airbnb has informed me that they intend to close the case by December 19. I’ve been going back and forth with customer support for over a month now, but nothing has been done to resolve this matter.

I feel let down by Airbnb’s response so far. This platform is supposed to protect its hosts, but in my case, I feel abandoned.

Has anyone in this community experienced something similar? What steps did you take to get help? Any advice or support would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope sharing my story will prompt Airbnb to take this issue seriously and help prevent others from going through the same ordeal. 

**[Reservation number hidden - Community Center Guidelines]

[Helen3]

What a horrible situation.

Are the people who took out the false tenancy still in the property @Nargiz11 

If so, I would suggest you contact a solicitor about how you evict them from the property. 

Has Airbnb cancelled the original 'guests' booking? 

what false identity did the person who booked provide ? 

I was a little confused by your post as your profile doesn't show you have any listings attached to your profile so I wonder which property the person booked? 

[Nargiz11]

Hi @Helen3, 

I had to remove my listing and cancelled all upcoming reservations. Airbnb helped me with cancellation of 4 upcoming bookings. The guest also deleted her profile same day she checkout out from my property. She used faked name on airbnb and managed to change her name and picture twice. So I am still questioning how airbnb verification works and does it work at all. 

The guest advertised my property on Chinese social media and brought people in during her stay to view my property. She charged some people £20,000 yearly rent in advance. 
I changed the locks same day when I was robbed by the guest and found a man in my property with the keys from my appartement. Luckily he understood the situation and left.  Bare in mind, this is my main property and I was renting it on weekends while staying at my boyfriends. 

Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, I am unable to provide an official police report at this time (this is a law in the UK) and airbnb just closes my case given I can not provide an official police report. 

[Inna22]

This is horrible @Nargiz11 I can not think of how you would have avoided it or have done anything better- you have asked for an ID, you contacted the police. What are you asking airbnb for? Have you opened an aircover case for the damages?

[Nargiz11]

Thanks @@inna22 . I did my best and at this point I just want airbnb to cover some of the damages. The issue that I have been facing with AirBnb is that I can not get an official police report given that they are still investigating the case. And AirBnb wants to close my case despite the fact that I provided an official email from the police and crime reference number. 

I also want to spread awareness among hosts and check if this is a common scam on AirBnb.