ACCOUNT HACKED!

Answered!

ACCOUNT HACKED!

and Airbnb does not seem to care at ALL! 

 

the hackers have changed my payout method to a different paypal account and I have been calling and emailing Airbnb since Monday when I found out about this. the hackers paypal still listed on my account and they have not lifited a fingure to help me or secure my account.

 

this is so FRUSTRATING and I feel so exposed. I am new to airbnb and just hosted 2 guests and have not received any payments yet and when I checked on my account I clearly see a different payout method for the payments and with my bank info still listed there.

 

this is a major security issue on Airbnb site which they dont seem to care. I can't even find any decent email account to send emails

 

Very disappointed and frustrated at Airbnb and will take this issue to social media. 

 

Farah

1 Best Answer

@Robin107 I've been reading your posts with great interest.  I'm wondering, have you changed your email password lately?  Emails are hacked / compromised all the time.  I change mine every six months just to be on the safe side.  Remember, Yahoo had a massive email attack just a few months ago and my LifeLoc security manager has notified me at least once that my email address was found on a  website presumably for sale. 😞

Also, do you check your log in history?  In order for anyone to access your Airbnb account, they have to log in.  You can find this under your profile under Security.  If you find a log in from a device / IP address that you don't use, log them out and then change your password.  You should receive an alert when you or anyone else logs in from a foreign (to you) device / browser.  For example, if I log in to my Airbnb account from a friend's IPad, I will get an alert from Airbnb telling me.  Be sure your email settings are not blocking alerts from Airbnb. 

Yes, technically I supposed that there is a difference between hacking and compromising an account.  Strictly speaking, hacking is done when someone uses computer software to access data illegally such as when Target credit card accounts were accessed.  Usually this is done on a massive scale.  Compromising an account normally is done on an individual account level and is done by gaining access to a particular account.  This can be done easily through public wifi that is not password protected such as in an internet cafe.  Someone sitting next to you can see what you are doing on your device and gain information that way.  There are other ways as well, such as clicking on an attachment in an email from someone you don't know. 

I wish you the best of luck and I'm very sorry you are going through this traumatic ordeal!

View Best Answer in original post

184 Replies 184

Linda, YES..this has been happening to them for a long time now and I don't thibk they can do anything to prevent it.  They won't admit that the problem is theirs.  They will try to say it's our fault that we clicked on a bad email and let them get accress to our account but this is definitely and Airbnb issue.  I agree, we have to check all the tabs under our acct settings constantly!    

Linda557
Level 1
Woodinville, WA

We are disgusted with the lack of response from AIRBNB and since they know full well that this is an ongoing problem that They Have would have expected a quick payment to us or at the very least an acknowledgment that they are working on it. I called to follow up & customer service said they would call me back in 15 minutes. They didn't so after 45 mins I called back in only to be rudely told that we shouldn't be calling in multiple times at which point I informed him that I had only called once & the only reason I was calling again was because no one called me back. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he put me on hold and mysteriously the call got disconnected. I called back again & spoke with a supervisor who basically said we just have to wait to hear from their security dept via email. Our experience with Airbnb has been terrible. We've used VRBO for years & get tons of bookings and never a problem & good customer service   

Just copying my response to another host for you.    

 

"EXACT same thing happened to our account.  The hackers got 3 of my payouts.   Just a heads up.,Airbnb will not answer you about this for about 2-3 weeks.    It gets really frustrating to get an answer from them.I tried emailing, twitter, and even messaging the CEO of Airbnb but no one will speak with you until they get it fixed.  Check your account details every time you log in becasue I dont think they have figured out a way to stop this, but the bottom line is they DID actually fix and refund the missing dollars to me.!  Good luck!"

 

Linda, You will never get a supervisor or be able to reach their security dept.  You will just have to wait it out for them to call you once they fix the issue.    Hang in there.  I was ready to call TV stations and hire a lawyer before they finally called me and straightened out the mess created by the hackers.  

 

Cool. I'm going to VRBO!

Bojan11
Level 1
Vrboska, Croatia

I noticed few days ago that money was not paid to me. So I checked the payment method. Someone change my Bank Account, PayPal and add one more telephone number.

number is [Phone number hidden]

[Bank details hidden]

PAYPAL [Email hidden] 

 

and than I contacted AIR


Regards,
Bojan

this is a answer fom AIRBNB:

Hey Bojan,

I've forwarded your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They'll be getting in touch with you soon.

I am so sorry for all the hassle, we would try and resolve this for you as soon possible.

Best,
Last Wednesday at 11:04 AM

EXACT same thing happened to our account.  The hackers got 3 of my payouts.   Just a heads up.,Airbnb will not answer you about this for about 2-3 weeks.    It gets really frustrating to get an answer from them.I tried emailing, twitter, and even messaging the CEO of Airbnb but no one will speak with you until they get it fixed.  Check your account details every time you log in becasue I dont think they have figured out a way to stop this, but the bottom line is they DID actually fix and refund the missing dollars to me.!  Good luck!

Go to http://www.haveibeenpwned.com and enter your email.  It's on you if your password and other details are freely available online - AirBNB cannot do anything to stop this beyond warning you if there is a new login from unknwon device.  

I have been advertising on VRBO for 12 years.   Never a problem.  Always a full season. My cottage is in Maine so I only book  May Thru October.    This year, 2022, I started to get my usual inquiries during the winter, for stays during the summer.   I booked 3 short stays, then all inquiries stopped.   I signed in to my owners account to check my ad and  was denied access.    I called VRBO.   Someone had gone in and changed my email address , and added a phone number from Dominican Republic.  They had also added a new checking account to receive MY payouts.    Luckily I had security questions on file with VRBO  and support took off all of the fraudulent info and restored my account.   24 hours later… it was all back on my account.   It has been a nightmare this season.   My last payment of 7k for sn upcoming booking was deposited into a SUTTON BANK in Ohio.   Calls to the bank have been useless.   No one calls back.   Vrbo has been useless.   Now they have deactivated all of my listings while they investigate.   So I have no bookings.   I have lost 100k this season due to their security issues and the payment of 7k which was one of the few bookings that I had, was deposited into a fraudulent account… even though I have used the same bank for my payouts for the past 12 years.   Vrbo never even questioned it a new account added.  This has been a rude awakening for me and I am getting off all of the vacation rental sites.   They are now too big, too unsecure and they offer no help to owners.   To call and try to speak with a rep is sometimes an hour wait.   I’m done.

What was the result in the End. As something similar has happened to me just now!!!!!!

I was finally contacted about 3 weeks after it happened and Airbnb told me the issue had been resolved.  They reimbursed me for all the diverted funds.  I check my Airbnb settings now every single day.  

Vimolnaree--Tong-0
Level 2
Bangkok, Thailand

I have just realized not so long ago that I've never received my payout into my account from Airbnb for a few months already.  I feel so stupid that I should have been awared of this earlier.  I received an email from Airbnb: Airbnb Trust & Safety (response@airbnb.com) Ms. Emma L saying that they recently detected that someone may have made unauthorized changes to my account.  As I used to trust the security of Airbnb site, I then followed all necessary steps in changing my password including verification by uploading a copy of my valid government ID.  After a few responses with this Airbnb Help, I thought my account should be safe and in good standing now without realizing that there was a change in my payout method.  I always set my payout preference to be direct transfer to my local bank account.  The default bank account was changed to "IBAN *****0190 (EUR)" without my notice.  At a quick glance that time, I thought this was just a new code from Airbnb which mean International banking transfer (which should mean the same account that I had assigned as the only one since the beginning.)

 

I have reported this issue through Airbnb help since last week, and received a reply email from Airbnb on 21/Sep./2017 saying that "I will be forwarding your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They should be in touch with you soon. Please note that they will be following up over email and you'll no longer be able to reply to this message thread. If this is an emergency or you feel your personal safety is threatened, contact the local police or emergency services immediately."

 

I still do not hear anything or get any help from Airbnb till now.  When I tried to go back into Airbnb Support page, the top window message appear and said that "This support case is now closed."

 

I really don't know what to do now.  Of course, I can't be expecting my big lost of money for these 3 months payout to be returned.  But can I still trust Airbnb system?  Should I cancel my account with Airbnb for now?

 

Hopeless here but looking for solution from Thailand! TT

 

Thanks,

Tong

 

Still no answer ffrom AIRBNB for 3 months!

Jairo13
Level 2
Zamora, Mexico

Try to make a claim to Airbnb is HELL! This morning I awake and found a mail with the confirmation of a reservation in Kuala Lumpur, and I'm in Mexico. I felt scared at first because I was worried that the reservation was charged to my credit cards. We checked with our banks and no charges were made, fortunately. The payment was billed to "Osaka Dongchuan pelagic fishery Co., Ltd.: MASTERCARD xxxxxxxxxxxx7637", even Airbnb give me 30USD in reward for my first enterprise trip 😕 

I communicated with the host, some guy in Malaysia, who told me that he'll check with Airbnb tomorrow morning because it was 1 am in there. 

I feel so helpless, I mean, thankfully the charges weren't made into my cards, but still, I can't stop thinking what would be happened if someone reserved in my name. There is no place to make a reclamation, nobody answers your questions, it's almost impossible to reach Airbnb support... I feel very disappointed about Airbnb, they don't care about their customers. 

 

The same thing has happened to me!!!! But they told me not to communicate with the host. I think I must do. Did you cancelled the reservation? I want to cancel it but Airbnb says me that I can't. They can only hide the review! God!