Credit Card Fraudulently Charged on AirBNB by AirBNB

[Thanadon0]

My credit card was fraudulently charged on Airbnb, it was credited back right away the next day. I didn't notice this until my bank statement came in. The problem is that I lost out around $14 on currency conversion as I don't live in the US and my card was charged in dollars. I did not even log into my account for more than 7 months.

I contacted AirBnb regarding to the issue, my case manager was Sonyah.

I asked them why my card was fraudulently charged and requested the $14 loss I incurred. Sonyah's answer was that, they credit me back the amount that was charged, and they can't tell me anything regarding to why my card was used without approval. She said I have to take up the loss with my bank on my own which is ridiculous. 

Sonyah said its under their privacy agreement that they can't tell me anything. They will only release information to law enforcment officers or goverment agency with subpeona only. At first she tried to put the blame that its my friend or family that could have used my card. Then she said that since its credited back, my currency exchange loss may be due to bank charges which I need to take up with my bank.

AirBnb and Sonyah pretty much threw their own customer under the bus. They just lost a very valuable customer. I spend at least 30 days in hotels per year. 

If anyone has more tips, please do share. For those out there, never save your credit card on Airbnb website or app. I did a quick search on google, this issue happens often.

[Karen1313]

My bank account was just charged erroneously for $90.31 by Airbnb. I’ve been assigned a case manager, however, no word regarding a refund yet. I’d hoped Airbnb would be prompt to sort this out from their end as I planned to make a reservation with them today but feel reluctant now with this obvious glitch in their system. It doesn’t feel secure to book through them now.

[Tatiana278]

I was also charged fraudulent by Airbnb (from a blocked credit card) almost 200 euro and I gat back from them 5 euro so far.

[Shaine1]

Hi guys! Has anyone of you been contacted by AirBNB already? I was charged for $90 and haven't received anything from them yet.  Is there a way we can know who the person booked the trip? Or is it only AirBnb who can provide those to us? Thank you.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Everyone: if you have a disputed or unrecognised transaction on your card or account - your first and only point of contact should be your card issuer or bank. In most countries they have a legal obligation to refund you and investigate. You don't need to spend hours trying to track something down with AirBnB.

Secondly your bank/card issuer has access to much more information about the disputed transaction that AirBnB has. It may even be that it's not an AirBnB transaction, but a fraudalent company using a similar name.

[Thanadon0]

I did contact my bank first, but the thing is if you are being charged different currency from your country, even if Air BNB refunds you the money, you lose money from the currency exchange difference. In my case I lost out on around $14 for nothing. Banks can't make Air BNB pay the difference, and in cases like this they won't credit you for the currency exchange lost as well since AirBNB credit the original amount back.

Like in my initial post, Air BNB admitted that my card was charged from their website! But the customer service tried to blame it on my friend or family member who may have used my account. The funny thing is, airbnb actually shows you the date when your account was last accessed too! My card was charged on the dates after I access the website. So there was no possibility anyone accessed my account, instead it was a fraudulent transaction from their own internal system.

I always find it amazing how high level airbnb users try to protect airbnb and deflect from the issue and try to blame it on something else many times in the forum.

[Richard1177]

Same thing just happened to my credit card, I never ever used AIRBNB or ever heard of them until I noticed a fraudulent charges under AIRBNB INTERNET DE, $241.57 and another $4.83 for lodging. Then it showed a credit of $240.09 and $4.80 on the very same day. My loss of $1.51   I am contacting my bank about this.

[Siena3]

Yeah I was just charged $1024.78. Talk about shocked when I woke up and seen the text from my bank. AirBnB just took my information and said someone would be in touch. Then I called the bank when they opened and they are going to try to stop it before it goes through, sine it is still pending. 

Funny N.Y. thing is I have never used air bnb. The guy kept saying he could not find my account and I just had to keep repeating that that is due to the fact that I have never had one. 

 I read that they require photo IDs though. How do people getaway with such large purchases without an ID to match the card?

so frustrating.......

[Angelica191]

I was charged SGD$3.7k by Airbnb this morning, in 5 seperate transactions of various currency. When I contacted Airbnb, they said they will investigate it but could not guarantee that I will hear from them anytime soon for an update. Fortunately the bank has locked down the card, and will file for dispute. Airbnb has been a let down since 2018, I hope they will do something about it.

[Ritu13]

I have almost 9 THOUSAND DOLLARS of charges on my credit card yeaterday. My credit card company (Visa) says that they will not treat this as fraud, but a "dispute" because i have used this company before. This is definitely an airbnb internal issue because a) the agent verified that no one had logged into my account, and b) the monies were sent to the person i did an airbnb experience with last month, in fact, he is the one who alerted me to the charges wondering why i had sent him huge sums of money.

I also have concerns with the charges being reversed, but also the exchange rate given that such a large sum of money, the conversion will be a large loss for me and my credit card company may not provide the support i need given this is being treated as a "dispute". 

[Kimberly388]

I too have been charged erroneously $1000 and haven’t used Airbnb since 2015. I am furious and like with everyone else, the attention to the matter isn’t prompt. I had to cancel my card bc of it and am still waiting to hear from them. Regardless of the fact that my bank will hopefully do a reversal or dispute, I want Airbnb to be forthcoming and say what happened. There was a reservation number on the transaction with my bank- surely they ca track it. I won’t be using Airbnb again; they clearly have a huge issue with security. What a disappointment. 

[Ewa54]

My card wasn't charged but I noticed I had someone else's card added in my airbnb account while my own cc has disappeared from my account. I wrote about it here: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/I-can-see-someone-else-s-card-added-in-my-airbnb-account/td...

[Karen1785]

Please advise who I  can contact to report 2 fraudlent transactions on my credit card for AirBnB...happened 28/6 and again 29/6.  I have reported to my bank to investigate but want to know from AirBnb how this could have happened

[Rhonda174]

my card was charge fraudulently  and they refuse to credit my money  back . they keep telling me that they cannot  give out information about the card or the  who used it. I dont  care about the card . I cancelled it  i just want my money back in my account  yet they refuse 

i had to copy the CEO on my emails just to get a response .. 

 they dont care  that i have to work  for my money and that who ever booked this trip  just   devasted my they keep telling me to contact my bank  

[Jack434]

Thx for sharing this information.. 

I wonder if airbnb shows all replies and experiences,

[Craig372]

Same thing here - $ 450 charge that was refunded , after contacting airbnb and reporting fraud to my bank.

Airbnb then asked me to instruct my bank that I cancel any dispute that was logged ( their gentle terminology ) 

All further correspondence elicits the same response - “ send us a subpoena “ - Does airbnb really take fraud and crime so lightly, or is this part of a bigger scheme that they are perhaps part of....