Scam-Airbnb Escrow Account

[Hazhin0]

SCAM--Airbnb Escrow Account

I am looking for flat in Prague for long term stay and some days ago I found a flat and emailed the owner, after two emails she (I am not sure about he/she!) told me that she really likes me and I seems like a resposible person! (I only send her two email) and If want to finalize the process I need to sned deposite+rent to Airbnb and Airbnb would send me the keys and... You can find her whole email below:

Hi there,
    Thank you for your prompt response and for your kind email. If you are still interested I agree to rent it to you. I promise you that you will love the place. You seem to be a nice person and I can assure you we will not have any problems. I prefer to rent my flat cheaper but to a nice and responsible person.
    Obviously you will have to see the apartment before discussing further details because you cannot rent an apartment that you haven't seen. I am willing to send you the keys so you can visit it and see it suits your needs.
    The delivery for the keys (apartment keys, interphone, alarm) and viewing permit (signed by me), will be made through an authorized courier and using a Airbnb Escrow Account ( www.airbnb.com/trust ) to make sure that we can trust each other.
    Using Airbnb escrow account involves three parties: me as owner, you as a potential tenant and Airbnb as a responsible third party authorized to proper conduct of the transaction.
    Here is the procedure explained :
    The Escrow Account Airbnb works the same way as the escrow account on which you place the deposit when you rent an apartment, except that instead of a bank, we use Airbnb. Of course, nobody can touch that money until you have not returned the keys.
    The escrow deposit, the first month rent + rental guarantee ( 5700 +5700 = 11400 CZK), must be filed by bank transfer to activate the escrow account.
    The delivery will be by a licensed company such as DHL, Federal Express or UPS and it will be sent by Airbnb at your home.
    To initiate the process, I need the following information about you:
-Shipping Address (address where you want the package to be delivered) and name of recipient;
-Delivery Schedule (local time you'll be at home to receive the package and sign the receipt);
-Phone number;
     You don't need to open an account with Airbnb because this transaction is a rental and the Landlord must open the transaction, just send me your personal details and i will open a case with them immediately.
    Then Airbnb sends you the keys and the contract already filled with your details; You will have 14 days to inspect apartment since the arrival date; If you want to keep the apartment, they give me the money, and we go on from there; If you do not keep the apartment, you send the keys/contract back to Airbnb and you get your money back.
    This will be in writing in the Airbnb contract I will sign.
    The Airbnb fees will be paid by me when I will initiate the procedure, you will have to pay for the money transfer fees when you pay the deposit.
    I'll wait your quick reply and if you agree, I will need your full name, shipping address and your  phone number (mobile if possible) so I can initiate the Airbnb rental transaction.
Thanks again for your time and look forward to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,

I search for Airbnb Escrow Account and furtunatly I found a very similar case in 2016:
https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Help/Rental-scam-using-Airbnb-How-should-I-go-forward-...

 If you read comments you can find alot of similar exaples. These stupid scammers use same format for wiring their email and you can read stuff like:
I am away and Airbnb Agent or service would bring you the key.

You should pay first and after you can visit the 
Please be careful and do not be fulled by these thieves and scammers.

[Awad0]

Same thing is happeing to me right now!

[Greshma1]

The

[Greshma1]

The same thing happened with me. She claims to live in London and sent me the exact same mail. Thank you for posting this you guys, I would’ve got scammed had I not seen this. I was looking to rent a place in Gdańsk and I got an email from her as I was looking through olx.pl. She said she lived in London and she used the exact same words! Her name is Joanna peterss. Please spread the word that it is a scam

[Mike1198]

It's 2019, they're still active. In Warsaw this time - under email plowase@gmail.com (Pola Wade).

[Alina154]

Wow, this person truly amazes me. The same is still going on in Krakow, lol. I actually started to believe that my apartment hunting will finally end till I read the escrow deposit part. And yes, I guess this time she is Pola Wade in Poland, though the script is still the same. She needs a copywriter of sorts 😄

Thanks to all of you guys for not letting me getting scammed. Especially when it comes to transfers, it is EXTREMELY hard to recall them and get them back.

Will spread the word among people whom I know. Hopefully, she'll get caught one day.

Cheers

[Roman358]

It´s still happening.

Right now in Kosice, Slovakia. By the name  - Hanna **

Be careful folks

**Personal information hidden due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

[Erica1111]

This just happened to me as well, but this time it was a guy! 
He claims to had moved to London from NYC and wanted to rent his apartment but only going through Airbnb. This guy's name is Chris L. 

[Tas1643]

NO WAY! the same guy, same name and same story. so glad i found this because i really wanted to give him the benefit of doubt. the passport he sent looked fake, i looked for him on all platforms and couldnt find him anywhere. i went as far as nearly paying but the minute i got the fake airbnb email saying to pay using bitcoin i knew it was a scam. the email was fake, the airbnb logo at the top was just a fake image not an actual letterhead. i called airbnb to confirm of this and they advised me to never pay offline. anything airbnb related should be done only through airbnb. there is no such thing as an airbnb escrow and airbnb does not accept bitcoin as a payment method or tool.

[Eileen347]

Omg same here same name, same story as everyone! We are looking for a one bedroom and one bath here in Souther California and we ran into Chris L.’s place on Apartments.com

I felt weary but gave it the benefit of a doubt..eventually I even called Airbnb but they didn’t say anything about it being a straight out scam and it being a possibility! Since they do work with hosts and guests in establishing long term rentals... thankfully I wasn’t satisfied with that and finally looked up Airbnb Escrow if it really is a thing! I luckily ran into this thread!

It sounded legitimate since he was providing even picture of himself and a passport photo (which looked questionable) I included the photo of the passport he sent me!

I’m just going to move on!

I’ll definitely post more of the email conversation we had as well as the photos he sent me.

[Veronica904]

@Eileen347 It happened to me! The same passport photo that you posted. Did you block or report them in any way?

[Veronica904]

This happened to me, with Chris L claiming to have moved to the UK from New York. Does anyone have recommendations for what to do next? Just ignore it? Block the email? Best way to tell Airbnb or Apartments.com, where I found the original listing? I’ve only given them my email address. 

[Noemi217]

I also wonder what we should do next. What did you do ?

[Veronica904]

I just stopped answering any emails and I never heard from the email address again. I wish there was some way to report it but I never really found anything besides this thread. 

[Sarah977]

@Veronica904  The place to report it is to the website you found the ad on. Tell them this person is committing cyberfraud. 

The problem is the scammers just change the name and put up a new ad. But at least you'll throw a little wrench in their day.

Welcome to the internet, where any criminal can try to scam unsuspecting marks and anyone can find misinformation to support their incorrect opinions.

[Šimon0]

Hi, I'm glad I have googled the message and saw this topic. So I can say it targets Czech Republic also.