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? 

[Emily1197]

I got the same exact email from "Debbie Allen." It was for a listing in DC on Vermont Ave.

[Sandy584]

name used was "Debbie Allen"

[Alessandro1086]

Hi all, thanks for opening this post. I live in Portugal and I was looking for a house and I found an ad in a popular website (Idealista), the ad was deleted as soon as I answered it. Then the whole process began, from a guy named Jenkins Hamish, from Switzerland, and everything that happened is perfectly reflected in these pages. I sent the documents unfortunately, but I won't do anything else. At first it seemed very legit, but then I started thinking: 

- AirBnB doesn't work like this

- The format of the Email was very odd

- Sending money before visiting the apartment? Also very weird

- He sent me his card and has a very weird face.. like a serial killer!

- He is from Switzerland, allegedly, but payments have to be done in a bank in Spain. Mind that Idealista is based in Portugal, Spain and Italy only. 

So I will stop now but it was a good scare I got, and I am grateful there is a community I can relate to. I reported the scam to a portuguese page (fraude.pt) that will investigate further.

I am so disappointed with myself for believing such a lie, it's impossible to rent a house for that price in Lisbon (it was really cheap). The fact that all of you that had the same experience report the same scheme, makes me very angry.

Thank you

[Nicolas1184]

Same game on swiss site's, including fake invoice from Airbnb rental - (sale-distribution.com).

All forwarded to swiss cybercrime police.

[Michael4986]

Hey @Nicolas1184 ,

Was her name Claudia Bottelo?

[Nicolas1184]

No , he pretended to be Italien and due to his job in England now .

[Lilian831]

Im going to share you my experience. How can I do for report this fraudulent people Thanks? In my case she used this email 

pharmalab@addvielabs.site

Thanks for your reply. We own the place and our daughter lived there until January when she got married and she moved back to CA.
That`s why we decided to rent it. The only reason why the rent is lower is because I own the place and is free of any commission from a real estate agency, which can be outrageous sometimes.

Unfortunately, because of my job, it will be a bit difficult to meet you personally for the moment, we are from CA and I am unable to travel right now. End of February I was there to meet a couple who was interested, but they never showed up, and it's not comfortable to fly back and forth from CA, especially when work commitments are made. Because of that we decide to make everything through Airbnb, an international company that mainly deals with rentals.
They will organize the inspection and will also assist you in managing the payment.

I`ll make the booking registration for you with Airbnb, and they will send you by e-mail the booking confirmation containing all the rental information including the payment information.
You`ll have to make a down payment of 1 month of rent to Airbnb and after they will receive it, an agent will be assigned for your reservation, which will contact you to inspect the place. Can be even the same day when the down payment was made.

If you like the place, you`ll sign the lease, you`ll get the keys from the Airbnb agent and you can move in right away.
The down payment is 100% refundable, after the inspection if you do not like the place and you do not want to rent it, Airbnb will return your down payment in full immediately.

If you would like to proceed, please give me your details (full name, current address and phone number) and we will make the registration for you with Airbnb.

Yours Truly,
Debbie

[Sarah977]

@Lilian831  There really isn't a need to post this email you received- there are 63 pages of emails on this thread with emails received that are almost word for word what you posted here. And if you read through the posts here, much advice has been given on where to report these scammers.

If you sent money to them, I'm very sorry you were scammed. But it's important to read up on the Airbnb site as to how to use the site to book. If guests actually bothered to do this, they would know right away that it is a scam- Airbnb doesn't have agents that meet you and give you keys, or let you inspect the place, you don't pay by sending money to some bank account or through Western Union, there's no down payment that is 100% refundable if you don't like the place. None of this is how Airbnb works.

[Alison717]

I have been speaking with Debbie as well last week for an apt in Long Beach that was 2 bed 2 bath for only 1,000 a month that was walking distance to the beach. She kept doubting that we were going to pay the down payment and insisted she wasn't a thief from the very beginning. Like a normal person doesn't have to go THAT far to prove they're real. Plus she said she lived on the east coast yet only responded to emails at like 1 am PST..pretty sketchy, man. 

[Pedro1285]

They are still doing this fraud. Recently I was looking for a unit here in Australia and I've found an apartment on Domain, after that I was emailing with the person and then after changing messages through what's app. It seems they use the same approach - request a payment upfront before you check the unit, saying that an agent will show you the property and sign the contract. I've checked and the unit is not even advertise on Airbnb. It was too strange and suspicious for me. 

See below the messages.

"Hello, I bought this apartment for my daughter during he's studies, but now she is back home in Spain permanently.
The monthly rent is AU$1200 for whole apartment, all bills included.
I want in advance the payment for one month of rent plus the bond of AU$1200 ( I request this bond because everything in the apartment is new and i want to be good kept..hope you understand ), in total AU$2400.
Before I rented my apartment on Airbnb for short periods but now, I don't have time to take care of it and that's why I want to rent it for a long period.
The entire rental process will continue to be managed by Airbnb so they will take care of the inspection and payment. They help me because in the past I use Airbnb to rent my apartment for short periods for all most 1 year and never had problems. I will pay the fees, so you won't have any extra costs ( no agency fees )."

"You are a very nice person and I can assure you we will not have any problems.
I will try explaining the process step by step how this will work.
First you must reserve the apartment via Airbnb for one month and after you've made the booking, Airbnb will send you via email the invoice with all details about your booking.
As soon as you will receive the invoice you have 24 hours to complete the payment to confirm your booking.
As soon as Airbnb will receive your payment, they will contact you to fix the date of inspection. Their agent will come in 2-3 days after your payment is confirmed to present the apartment and give you the contract. The contract is signed by me and you can choose for how long you want to rent the apartment. 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. After you've signed the contract Airbnb will release me your money.
Option 2: But I don't think you will use this option, you will tell to the agent that you don't want to rent my apartment and Airbnb will refund you the money in 48 hours.
I've chosen Airbnb because they offer a guarantee for both of us.
To continue I need from you a photo with your Passport ID or any official document of you. As soon as I'll receive this document, I will send you the link to make the booking.
PS: If you will pay for 6 months upfront, I will make you a discount of 15% from whole amount."

[Amber444]

Same @Pedro1285 

[Jennie146]

I just encountered something  very similar. Sigh, I knew it was too good to be true. 

Mine was a Naval Sgt living in Spain with his family, and also requesting to rent through Airbnb.

[Mi22]

I just got this scam last night. I tried to find a flat to rent out in Hong Kong. She asked me to pay deposit and rental fee in advance before room inspection. And also asked me a lot of my personal information too.

Be careful of this person

[Cassie116]

Got a near-identical e-mail from a Susan Miller about a place in Boston too. 

[Molly306]

Same thing just happened to me in Pasadena California.  Was looking for longer term rental and found the property on Realtor.com.  Here's the first response I rec'd from him:  "My name is Janssen Van de Berg and I'm originally from Amsterdam, Netherlands. I have worked in the United States for three years and I bought the apartment during my stay there. I'm the owner of it. Now, I have moved with my work in Madrid, Spain for at least 4 years and I'm interested in renting through Airbnb. I'm looking for a serious and responsible person to care, keep the house clean and see it as his own home. It would be great if you can send me some personal information about you (age, employment, lifestyle, etc)?   If you are interested please let me know so I can explain how you can rent my apartment through Airbnb."

Beware - their website looks like a clone of airbnb - called "alrbnb-com." 

Price was too good to be true and I should have known better.  Fortunately, I did not send any $!   Eyes wide open.