Extortion attempt advice

Ashley26
Level 3
Dallas, TX

Extortion attempt advice

Hello all,

 

I tend to be way too wordy, so I'll try to keep this as concise as possible, and greatly appreciate any advice. Kind of a long story, but I think it's worth mentioning all the parts to get the full picture. 

 

Bought a house in Nicaragua a year ago, strictly for vacation rental income, so I take this very seriously, as it's not "extra money". I don't know how many total people we have now hosted, but in less than a year we have 42 reviews, so I'd guess at least 65 reservations and 100+ people, at least. All reviews have been 5 star, written reviews are fantastic, Superhost status, I'm way overpaying the property manager to make sure we get great reviews, seems like every day I read another glowing review, I was feeling great about the house and all was going well...

 

Two weeks ago I had to go Nicaragua for business for 10 days. The house was already rented with 3 different short term reservations, so I stayed one night in the house, then moved to a hotel and let the property manager continue check ins / check outs as usual (All reservations are confirmed to meet with him, as I live in US, but happened to be there when this happened). On Feb 28 he called and told me he had just checked in some guests that he felt weird about, and thought they might be a problem, but he wasn't sure why. He has never done this before, but I didn't think much of it... the next day I recieved a text (a real SMS text - not through Airbnb) from this guest, saying they had bed bugs. Actually a "huge infestation" of bed bugs. I panicked, as this is of course a host's worst nightmare, and I had no reason to think she was lying (yet). The guest didn't realize I was in Nicaragua (looking back, this all makes more sense, but at the time I didn't realize what was happening) so she was surprised when I immediately responded, and told her I would find the property manager and be there within the hour. 

 

Property manager and I got to the house and waited until they finally showed up, then I let her tell me all about this huge bed bug infestation that I knew wasn't true, but I didn't want to be rude and call her a liar, so I just apologized for the inconvenience and said I'd do all I could to help. I still did think there was a possibility it might be true, but it seemed unlikely, since the house had been full every night for months and nobody else noticed any bed bugs. Still, I was scared to death this might be real.  Until I met the guests and felt how staged they were. The whole thing was an uncomfortable and dramatic show (as I'm sure she didn't think I'd actually be in Nicaragua, and thought this would all be going through a middle man property manager). It was all very 8th grade drama class, but I was trying to go with "the customer is always right" and also just wanted them out of my house, so I agreed with everything she said and tried to shoo them out.

 

 

At this point, the guests had spent one night in the house, and they had a 3 night reservation. I immediately refunded their total reservation from my phone on the spot, and offered to take their clothes to the laundry, as we would be taking all bedding, towels, sheets, etc (Didn't yet know if this was real or not, so had to take EVERYTHING to be sterlized and laundered, as though it was real). They declined, and went on and on about how they will still leave a positive review because this can happen anywhere, they live in Costa Rica (this changed later), they know all about Airbnb and don't want to mess up my reviews, etc. At the time, this seemed strange to me, because I was literally worried about potential bed bugs and the thousands of dollars and incredible nightmare that would mean, not reviews...   As my property manager was getting them into the car to take them to a hotel (with 3 bags I had given them to use for luggage), I told them I had already issued the full refund via Airbnb, but this is my first time doing anything like this, so I'm not sure if it is immediate or will take 24 hours to clear or whatever... The older man barked "Oh, we know how it works" and got in the car. This stuck with me, but I was still worried we might have bed bugs, and had much bigger things to worry about. Now, I can see it was a scam...

 

Long story short, we had 2 exterminators come to the house, both of whom said we had no bed bugs. Turns out, they're super rare in Nicaragua anyway, but by that point I had already refunded 100% of their 3 night stay, so I went ahead and did another full house fumigation, which we have to do every few months anyway (open air house, tropical country). This meant I also had to cancel the next reservation (takes a few days to air out after fumigation), all for a fake bed bug claim. So at this point, they had cost me quite a bit, but I was just happy to be rid of them. 

 

The next day, I got a text (again, now I see how they used Airbnb messages for bed bug claims and regular SMS for things like this) saying they had a set of my keys and also needed $40 for laundry reimbursement.  She also disputed my 100% refund, because the Airbnb fees had been taken out, and she wanted cash for the difference. I was just so ready to be done with these people, I had the property manager take them $40 in cash so we could just be finished with them. Fine. At this point, their fake claim had cost me their own reservation (and myself staying in a hotel because of their reservation), the next reservation, cost of unnecessary full house fumigation, and $40 cash. It was ridiculous, but I just didn't want to deal with them anymore, so I considered it a lesson learned.

 

A full week passes, and now I'm back in the US. I have not reviewed her, she has not reviewed me, but by this time I've put some pieces together and am aware I've been taken, and these folks are pros. Don't even really care, because I'm just so happy that I don't really have bed bugs, which would be a nightmare to deal with in Nicaragua. Honestly, I was just waiting for the 12 days to run out, so they couldn't write a bad review, then I wouldn't have to write one either, and I could just pretend it didn't happen and hope this wasn't a planned con, as I was afraid it might have been.  

 

Yesterday I got a message from her, saying they continue to have major bed bug problems, now they have brought the bugs home with them (guess they live in the US and not Costa Rica now), I have clearly known about this for a long time and I'm engaged in some kind of scam or coverup, they feel misled and lied to, I am falsely marketing my property and knowingly exposing guests to a known health hazard, they are very knowledgable about Airbnb's insurance policies for things like this, etc etc... It was written in that kind of language someone uses when they want to scare you legally (except that everyone in my family is a lawyer, so I knew it was BS). Then she itemized all the things I owed her for (please remember she already declined my offer to launder things): $40 laundry fee, $120 extra hotel night "because laundry wasn't finished in time to catch the bus", and on and on and on... At the end of it, she asked for $600 cash, or she'll leave a review about bed bugs. Pretty sure that is clear extortion.

 

Not only did I offer to do their laundry already (which would have negated the $600 in made up charges anyway), but I have refunded them in full, and gave $40 cash for the laundry on top of that, already! This was a very clear extortion attempt, so I called Airbnb before responding, and was advised that there is not much I can do. They did tell me to provide proof of extermination, which I did, and they said maybe if she leaves a bad review (which she will - that was the threat, if I didn't cough up the extra $600, which I didn't, so the review is undoubtebly coming) Airbnb might be able to delete it, as they have proof that both an exterminator and the Health Dept of Nicaragua certified that we don't have bed bugs. This sure seems like a lot of work to just keep a lie from killing my income. In the US, you could sue for libel, but of course that wouldn't fly in Nicaragua, so I would love any general Airbnb advice on this? I have proactively sent proof that it's not true, but the same kind of thing could happen in the future with another made up problem. Is there no way to safeguard against made up problems / attempts to get money?

 

This has raised larger questions for me. Obviously I should have been much more careful in accepting guests, in general. This person had 0 reviews, so I should have declined her anyway, but I didn't think to look at the profile again until this all happened. I googled her name, and the person who came up was indeed there, but was presented to me as the guest's friend (the actual guest had a different name). Hindsight is always 20/20 and now I can see they were probably sh***ing their pants when they realized I was actually in town and showing up at the house when they sent the bed bug alert (I'm sure they assumed I'd be in US and accept their word for it), so they forgot who they were supposed to be or who was supposed to be the bed bug expert or whatever. Still my fault for accepting a no review BS account, but now my bigger concern is that this is probably bigger than just my property. These 3 people knew about the Airbnb process and how many hours until refunds would hit their account, what to include on Airbnb messaging and what to use personal texts for, 2nd grade legal jargon to try to scare people (and of course the magic "bed bugs" scare), the importance of reviews, and the ins and outs of Airbnb's insurance policies. Seems like a lot to know for a person who is having her first Airbnb experience (according to the profile). 

 

Now that it is pretty clear this is a fake account, what can I do (other than leaving an honest review) to keep this person from lying and trying to extort money from other hosts?  Of course "bed bugs" is the scariest thing she could threaten to say in a review, and now I can see the method in the messages on Airbnb vs phone, and why she didn't accept my offer to pay for laundry, other little things along the way... This is not her first or last, but I'm sure this person is opening and closing Airbnb profiles all the time... How do I help get the word out about her? What do I do in the future to keep this from happening again? There was a day when I didn't have any reviews either, so I hate to just ban everybody with no reviews, because I assume they're fake? Airbnb is supposedly looking into other profiles associated with this email / banking info, but I feel like there must be some other way I can keep this from happening again? Any advice? 

 

This $259 reservation is costing me thousands, and seems to be quite a refined little racket con job, so I'm sure it is happening to other hosts as well. What do I do??  To be honest, I'm just so offended by the personal accusation that I am knowingly lying and misrepresenting my property, it has become a personal mission now to make sure this doesn't happen to others. 

 

I sent Airbnb proof that I don't have bed bugs, so even if she does leave a negative review, they will delete it (hopefully) because they are already aware of it. But how do I keep it from happening to myself or others in the future? Is there not some way to prevent negative reviews from being posted at all, when there is a clear attempt to extort money?

 

Sorry... Said I'd keep it short. Ha. Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

 

Ashley 

 

 

55 Replies 55
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Ashley26

I am generally prone to long responses to Ashley if you follow any of my posts.

But this one is super short. Why have you not contacted the police? This is extortion, present your evidence to the police and lay an extortion complaint! Simple as that.

Cheers....Rob

Hi Robin,
 
I appreciate your response. Unfortunately, the police in Nicaragua literally don't even have enough funding for gas in their patrol cars, so they don't care at all about my vacation home. It just occurred to me after this ordeal that anyone could say anything and we, as hosts, don't have much protection from con artists. Surely there is some way to flag people? Even eBay shuts down fake accounts, so I'm hoping Airbnb can do the same.
 
Your point is a good one, though. I'll look into what my legal options are on the US end, and I appreciate your advice.
 
Thanks,
Ashley 
Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Ashley26

Yeah, you are a US resident and this guest came to you through a US company, you are being paid in US dollars, the guest is trying to extort money from you! I guess the only missing link would be......is this 'guest' a US citizen?

Gee, I am not a legal eagle but I don't know how much more would be required to satisfy a complaint in the United States provided you can provide certification from the Nicuraguan Pest control people.

I would be lodging a complaint just to scare these people the hell out of my life regardless of pursuing any charges.

Good luck with it Ashley....at the very least under the guests profile click that little flag that says 'Report this User' !!

Cheers.....Rob

Wendy-and-Frank0
Level 10
Stonington, CT

Full disclosure:  I didn't read the whole post.

 

But why in God's name would you not write an honest review about these people?????

 

So you got them off YOUR back but it's okay if they screw the rest of us?

 

I swear.... if I read one more post about people being afraid of a negative review, I'm gonna puke.

 

Without reading the entire post, my extortion advice to YOU would be to grow a pair.

 

 

 

Ummm... Not at all what I said. Before you tell me to "grow a pair", please read the post. Wow.

 

What I said was that I did report them, I did leave a negative review, I called Airbnb, I have provided emails and proof to Airbnb, I have clicked the little flag to report them, and all of this was done exactly for that reason - to not screw the rest of you. If it was just for me, none of this would matter. THAT WAS EXACTLY THE POINT. Had you read my post, you would have learned that I thought this was a person making lots of fake accounts. Of course I left a negative review on that one fake account, which won't matter, because that account will be deleted and they will open another one. Read the post before sending such a rude response. My overall intention was to stop them in the bigger picture, not "get them off my back and screw the rest of you".

 

Wow. Thanks for your helpful response.

@Ashley26,

 

Your words:

 

"A full week passes, and now I'm back in the US. I have not reviewed her, she has not reviewed me, but by this time I've put some pieces together and am aware I've been taken, and these folks are pros."

 

Why wait a full week before you review her?  Any idea how many other places she has booked in that "full week"?

Yes, I do have an idea. She was in the hotel, where I sent her. 

 

Jeez. My question was if I could do anything to prevent this in the future. I guess I know not to come here for help.

@Ashley26,

 

You don't think that while she sat in the hotel where you sent her she couldn't book future stays with ABB?

 

You can come here for help but help isn't always going to be a coddling session or a pity party.

 

You've had plenty of guests so you have plenty experience to know your product.

 

You know your place is clean, you had no evidence that these people were telling you the truth, and yet you were willing to give them the sun, the moon, and the stars.

 

This is the lesson for you to learn:  before you bow to people, verify the story.  You could have just as easily said you'd investigate the matter, provide proof that there was no infestation, and then tell them to bring it on.

 

What you could have done to prevent this in the future is to not surrender your power and to write your review the minute the whole story fell apart.

 

As a hosting community, we are only as strong as our weakest link.

 

Have a good day; wishing you continued success in your ABB business.

Can you porevent the scammers doing this in the futire - no, so the only issue is how you mange the situation.

 

Legal action, I seriously do not understnad how this owuld be practical, the amount involed is too small and who would have jurisdiction? the property is in Nicargua.

 

Even if it was in the US then the costs involved would be significant and you would certainly would not start such a case which would be very costly unles you were reasonably certain you would win and the other party had the funds to settle.

David

Sorry you had such a bad experience, but thank you for sharing. It is a learning process. I have been lucky so far that I haven't had any extreme bad behavior from my guests.  I do spend time here learning from shared experiences. Once again, thanks for sharing.

@Wendy-and-Frank0 RIGHT ON!

I did write a horrific review of them, and I did report them to Airbnb.  Not sure why you assumed I didn't, but thanks for the super constructive and completely incorrect assumptions and judgments. 

It seems to be quite a problem with Airbnb guests. I rented through Homeaway for 8 years and  only had one issue during that time. Been with Airbnb 2 years and I’ve had several problem guests. The previous  guest has just given me a terrible review after he and his two friends were refused a refund. Another a few weeks ago complained about the mattress was too firm. This has resulted in my listing being suspended for 5 days as it brought my average rating down.  There seems to be no independent review by Airbnb to see if these complaints are valid.

Cormac0
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

@Ashley26

 

I mean this in the nicest possible way,

 

They saw you were dancing to their tune and obviously were worried about a bad review, to knowingly state something that is untrue in the public media about you is libel and you could prosecute.

 

When faced with this type of intimation you must stand your ground and forget about Airbnb reviews and slow the whole process down but record everything and go through due process.

 

It is my personal view that, the Airbnb star rating system has contributed a great deal to this sort of activity as scoundrels know Host appear to be terrified of a bad review,

 

I had one young lady say the she did not want to give me a bad review because she could destroy my business, I told her to bring it on as I had kept AirBnb fully informed of her activity, smuggling an extra guest without paying.

 

The whole payment system is slow and cumbersome and needs a complete overhaul, In my opinion the fee should be collected and in AirBnb account before a guest crosses the threshold, this does not appear to happen, I was informed after guests had stayed two days that AirBnb failed to collect the fee from the guest!

 

You can’t stay in a hotel without paying first, they learnt the hard way over the years so why does AirBnb not understand this?

Regards

 

Cormac

 

The Explorer’s Club Krakow.