Hacked guest's account

John498
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Hacked guest's account

I just had an enquiry on Sunday morning from California about staying in London beacuse his partner's mum was ill. I pre-approved but got no response so withdrew it a few hours later as there was no response. I got an email from airbnb security about being in contact with a possible scammer and a message from the real account holder as follows.

 

"Hi...this is the REAL Brian Hare....unfortunately, someone hacked my airbnb account and tried to book with you. I live in California. So I apologize for any problems this may have caused, if any. When I talked with airbnb, they don't even know why people hack other people's accounts since they can't steal any of the info. Anyways, have a good day! Brian

 

I have now got a short notice enquiry

"I'm visiting with my two sisters due to us having a funeral to attend which is on the 7th. It is very near the property. Sorry for short notice, it's just that most places are far."

Even though he has four reviews he still hasn't booked and is asking questions like "where will we meet etc?"

As this appears to be the second in two days I am wondering is there some sort of concerted attack on Airbnb? Has anyone else experienced this?

18 Replies 18
Andrea600
Level 1
Woodanilling, Australia

Yes! I have been hacked. My guest account was hacked. Someone posing as me had a conversation in chinese (i cant speak chinese) with a chinese host and booked accomodation. $2700 AUD had been taken from my account. As soon as I noticed yesterday evening I cancelled my credit card, contacted the host and told them i had been hacked and the booking was not made by me. I am not in china and I would not be arring at the property. I asked for them to give me a refund and they refused. Since then i have had to cancel my credit card, and change all my passwords. I have contacted air bnb but all I have been told is to send them an email, that was 24hours ago, noone has replied- they dont seem to care? 

Hello Andrea, sorry to hear that! I had the same sıtuatıon somebody hacked my account and made a reservatıon ın Thaıland for 2450Euro, I called the airbnb as soos as I realized and they told me that they opened a ticket and someody from security team woul be contacting me after investigating! What happened ın your case ? Did airbnb solved the issue and made you the refund? YOur response ıs apprecıated.  

Mary1581
Level 2
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Hi Andrea, 

Did you manage to get your money back from Airbnb?

Thanks,

Mary

Sara-And-Rob0
Level 3
Bern, Switzerland

We received a request from a guest in the UK.  It raised some flags for us so we asked for additional info like ages of people in group, professions, reason for visiting our town.  We didn't get a reply right away but then received this message.

 

"Sorry my Air BnB account was hacked overnight and this was not an enquiry from me."

 

We commiserate with them and she replied, 

 

"I've reported it to Air BnB and changed my password but from my new browsing history can see that someone has been in the account!"

 

This raised a flag on another inquiry that was a booking request we accepted a few days ago so I called Airbnb and have instigated a look into whether that person's account was hacked.

 

Flags for us have been:

 

1. Requests were both 4 adults

2. Although one inquiry was from the US and one from the UK, the written English is very poor and the inquiries are very short, for example, "Hello. We arrive tomorrow in Bern. Tell me, will our family be comfortable in your home? The photos are very decent and good house. We are waiting for the answer, thank you!"

 

We replied with a time delay tactic saying we will check our calendar and get back to you in the morning, which led to this weird reply, "Thanks, I'll decide later!"

 

Little clues exist and we need to share these clues in the forums.  I don't think this will lead to major money scams but definitely lead to lost bookings and confidence shaking in the community.

 

 

 
Sally152
Level 1
England, United Kingdom

I also had this happen early hours today someone hacked ac and booked trips to L.A and paid from my stored debit card. 

 

I cancelled cards and airbnb cancelled trips however due to the last min cancellation charges by the hosts I've had no money refunded!!! Airbnb I called and they can't put me thro to their trust and security team!!  Will I get my £4K back!!!!! So upset 

Hello Sally, sorry to hear that! I had the same sıtuatıon somebody hacked my account and made a reservatıon ın Thaıland for 2450Euro, I called the airbnb as soos as I realized and they told me that they opened a ticket and someody from security team woul be contacting me after investigating! What happened ın your case ? Did airbnb solved the issue and made you the refund? YOur response ıs apprecıated.  

Lila-And-George0
Level 3
Athens, Greece

yes!

Whithin a month we have received 4 instant bookings by "guests" suing hacked profiles.

The first alert was a guest that has booked for June 20-21 and then asked for a change to NEXT DAY check in . The girl was supposed to come from Cave Creek Arizona and my property is in Athens _GREECE.

I accept the change at first place (i Thougth perhaps she is on the move, she changed her plans etc) but then I see a CHINESE phone number and a TOTALY DIFFERNET profile name of ehich of the confirmation email. As check in was next day, I called Airbnb.

They cancelled the booking.

Since then, one a week, I' m receiving instant bookings using fake profiles. I' m not a host anymore. I' m a private investigator.

We have to do sth about it

Instant bookings block the calendar dates, until to be cancelled. And as the check in date approaches, prices go down.

Why do we have to pay that cost of poor security when someone register (at first place) or changes his/her profile?

Ava30
Level 10
Eureka, CA

My suggestion to avoid outsiders hacking your traveling account would be to remove your payment card until you are actually traveling. They cannot charge it to your host account since that is only to recieve payments from ABB. 

 

@Ava30  My husband had an AirBnB booked on his debit card.  He has no AirBnB account. Never has. So whether you remove your information or not may not help. Some poor host got back charged for a weekend stay in NY and the funds removed on her next booking.

@Letti0Good to know. All the more reason to be vigilant with passwords and changing them regularly 

Kathie21
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Letti0  That sounds like a different issue - debit card fraud (someone has kept the details from a purchase perhaps) rather than a hacked Airbnb account.  I never allow online merchants to keep my credit card details if I can help it.  So I have to type them in each time - big deal.

Jake193
Level 2
New York, NY

Hi everyone, check out my post on this other thread for some explanations and recommedations: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/ACCOUNT-HACKED/m-p/1026929/highlight/true#M214194

Axel116
Level 2
Chicago, IL

This just happened to me as a guest. Completely fake booking that I never made but was charged over $600. The booking said it was in Edinburgh but the address placed the booking in the MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN!! I dont know why Airbnb doesn't have any automatic fraud detection for this type of thing, its completely ridiculous, especially bc I reached out to them immediately after getting the fake confirmation email, and they have done NOTHING for over a week to resolve or refund my money. I feel violated as a customer and their "Trust Team" seems to be either non-existent or at least untrustworthy. AIR BNB NEEDS TO REFUND ITS CUSTOMERS. 

@Axel116 Call your credit card company and simply tell them it is a fraudulent charge. Far more efficient than waiting for AirBNB to do anything.