a rental

[Jason1027]

Hi, i have recently inquired about a longterm rental for an apartment in Worthing UK. The property is let privately through Gumtree, and the owner says payment is made through Air B'B, his messagw copied below. IS this kosher?

Obviously we need a way to complete this deal in a safe and fast way for both since i am in Czech Republic and i can't show you the apartment. The solution is provided by a company called “Airbnb” (www.airbnb.co.uk ) which will handle the payment of the first month and the security deposit. I guess you heard about Airbnb. They are the largest and most secure site for rents.

I chose airbnb because you send the money to them and you can cancel your booking any time until checkin date (https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies ) and airbnb will send your money back.

[Sarah977]

@Jason1027  This is on the official Airbnb site, (that URL you posted), but the email you quote is almost word for word the emails others receive for total scam listings. And many of these scams were listed on Gumtree.

Do not engage further with this person, and please report this listing to Airbnb, along with the email you received.

Here is a 50 page thread with these scam emails and listings: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Rental-scam-using-Airbnb-How-should-I-go-forward-if-at-all/...  Many of them have fake URL's-not Airbnb, just look-alikes, but it seems many of these criminals are now getting bold and putting the listing up on Airbnb itself. But as soon as anyone sends them money, you can be sure the ad will disappear.

And it's not true that you can cancel on Airbnb up to the day of check-in and receive a full refund- that's a total lie.