HOSTS, BE ALERT! Airbnb is totally insecure! I am a Host and was shocked to find this out!
So, let me start first by saying: I first tried to go through Airbnb to find out more information about this, but have been VERY disappointed in the responses I 've gotten from them, so here I am in the Community to spread the word to other Hosts (who are likely in the dark about this problem) and hopefully we can get Airbnb to fix this problem immediately. My daughter, a teen, just starting college, has a bank/card charge card -- carrying her not so large hard-earned savings -- does not have an Airbnb account. I have warned her to not use this card except to withdraw cash, but she has used it (almost not at all) for very few online purchases -- this is how much exposure this account has had out there in the world (not that this information is all that relevant to what I'm about to tell you).
My daughter called me crying because $740 were charged to account for several Airbnb reservations.
As a mom, I reached out to Airbnb to make sure that when my daughter files complaint with her bank (who have been very helpful so far) that I can be assured Airbnb will credit her for these charges. Airbnb did promise me that -- so I feel confident that this piece of the issue will be resolved between bank/Airbnb through the bank's fraud department.
As a Host, I am NOT at all happy with the canned responses I received from Airbnb about this issue. As a Host, if this didn't happen to my daughter, I would never have known this kind of thing can even happen with Airbnb -- yes with retailers -- but that is NOT the same thing at all! My assumption was that Airbnb knows we Hosts are in the vulnerable position of welcoming strangers into our homes, so Airbnb's security needs to be extra extra extra secure!! We need to be able to trust that Airbnb has Host's security in mind and is going out of their way to be super secure. I was trusting that was the case! Yet, when I reached out to Airbnb about this incident, they gave me canned responses with advice on how to file a complaint with the bank telling me how this kind of breach happens all the time to credit cards. I was floored by this. I asked them the same questions over and over and received no direct response to the questions I asked. My questions were:
1) Was the name on the reservation the same name as my daughter's, or was this a different name? I need to know if my daughter's whole identity was stolen, meaning the criminal was able to make an account on the Airbnb website, as my daughter. This is important to me, as her mother and as an Airbnb Host -- why can't Airbnb tell me the answer to this? If a criminal was able to provide two gov't issued IDs giving proof of my daughter's identity (which Airbnb requires for an account, right?), this is something I really need to know. I would need to get law enforcement involved. Airbnb, please respond to this questions ASAP!
2) Was the name on the account a different name from my daughter's? If this is the case, as a Host, I'm really surprised Airbnb allows that to occur without batting an eye. We, the Hosts, need to know that this blatant lack of security is happening. So please, Airbnb, just let me know -- is the name on the reservation different from the name on the financial account which was paying for these reservations?
3) What is Airbnb going to prevent this from happening in the future?
***I received several unhelpful, indirect, scripted responses from Airbnb, but no answers to these questions!! I told them over and over. I am a Host -- how do I know criminals aren't booking my place?! My guess, is that the Hosts involved in the bookings related to my daughter's bank theft, still have NO IDEA that criminals booked their place!
***Here's are obvious solutions to this issue -- 1) Airbnb, DO not allow your system to take bookings that have a different name on bank account/credit card than the name on the reservation and/or 2) Airbnb, flag bookings where name on bank/credit card account doesn't match name on the reservation -- after flagging, seek more information. 3) Be transparent with Hosts -- if the reservation is flagged for this reason, let Hosts know, so they can decide whether the explanations for two names is valid, whether the new information provides enough proof of identity, and let the Host, in the end, choose to take or not take this reservation.
Currently, when Hosts see the transaction information, Airbnb is not being transparent with the Hosts. We only see the name on the Guest's Airbnb account. We do not see the name on the Guest's financial account. It never crossed my mind that Airbnb would allow someone to book when these two names do not match. Until now, I would see the name on the transaction and I always assumed that is also the name on the Financial account. It is bad enough that we do not see the full name (first and last) of the Guest until AFTER we've taken the reservation, BUT when we do see the full name, this 'full name' we see can be totally disconnected from the financial transaction that is taking place to book your home.
Boooooo! Airbnb! You are failing Hosts terribly!!
