Rental scam using Airbnb? How should I go forward, if at all?

[Elizabeth103]

I have been trying to find an apartment and found a listing on a popular rental website (not Airbnb). We started e-mailing, and the owner told me that he lives in Spain and will be using Airbnb's services for payment. It didn't seem strange until this last email. What bothers me about this is that it doesn't seem to follow any of Airbnb's practices. It also threw up other rental scam red flags, such as the fact that he wants me to pay before seeing the property, he's asking for my personal information outside the Airbnb platform, and the place doesn't come up on the Airbnb search list. Here is the portion of the most recent e-mail that I find odd, copy/pasted, edited for clarity:

"If you decide to proceed with this transaction, I will need your phone number along with your full name and address where you can be contacted for the keys and the rental contract. Then I will start the process through Airbnb here in Spain, providing them your information. Next you will receive a notification message from them, containing a receipt with all the instructions that you need to follow in order to complete the process and receive the keys and the rental contract.
Regarding the payment, you will get all the necessarily [sic] instructions on the invoice, so you can deposit the money for the first month along with the warranty, into an escrow bank account from AIRBNB. They will hold and insure your money until you check the apartment and decide if you want to rent it or not.
As soon as you will complete the deposit of $1,100 + $1,100 = $2,200 into their bank account, an agent from Airbnb will meet and show you the property. You will be given one day inspection period to take a decision and [in case you are not satisfied with the apartment], next day the total amount will be refunded to you by Airbnb. If you'll like the flat then you can keep the keys, sign the contract, and we will fix a date for the monthly payment, that it has to be done by you directly to my personal bank account."

There's a lot about the whole exchance that seems quite.... off. The more I think about it, the stranger it sounds. There is nothing on Airbnb about "escrow accounts," etc. It just smells terribly fishy, and I want to make certain that my eagerness and need for a place to go doesn't get me ensnared into some scammer's net. 

So, what are your thoughts on this? 

[Sarah977]

It doesn't matter what color hair she has, or what her ID says. This is a SCAM! Do not send or wire money to anyone. If you do, you will never see that money again and there won't be any rental for you. This isn't how Airbnb works. 

There are 67 pages here telling you this is a scam- is that not enough for you?

@Vitus1

[Sarah977]

It doesn't matter what color hair she has, or what her ID says. This is a SCAM! Do not send or wire money to anyone. If you do, you will never see that money again and there won't be any rental for you. This isn't how Airbnb works. 

There are 67 pages of posts o this thread here telling you this is a scam- is that not enough for you?

@Vitus1

[Sarah977]

It doesn't matter what color hair she has, or what her ID says. This is a SCAM! Do not send or wire money to anyone. If you do, you will never see that money again and there won't be any rental for you. This isn't how Airbnb works. 

There are 67 pages of posts on this thread here telling you this is a scam- is that not enough for you?

@Vitus1

[Jan765]

Hi there! 

I just did the mistake as You did and sent money to Portugal bank. If there is any chance to get them back as You describe, I am very faithful now and I will go to police as soon tomorrow morning!! Thanks a lot for Your comment

[Dinesh25]

Hi Carla,

Were you able to get back the money after the transaction completed or were you able to stop it while it was getting transferred(wire transactions take 3 days).

Also did you have to run behind the police to get things done? 

Thanks, 

Dinesh Swamy

[Dinesh25]

Hi Carla,

Were you able to get back the money after the transaction completed or were you able to stop it while it was getting transferred(wire transactions take 3 days).

Also did you have to run behind the police to get things done? 

Thanks, 

Dinesh Swamy

[Miroslav42]

I also lost money in a scam like this, reported it to the police and bank. How long it took to get the money back?

[Ciara88]

I've done the same - what can I do about them having a scan of my passport?

[Kamila49]

Hi! Can you describe how did you went through the process with police and the bank? 

[Naemi3]

Hi @Carla316 

Sorry to bother you, unfortunately fell for the same..
i just found your comment and wanted to ask if you got any further because of your ID copy, how did you process, what happened?
Thanks so much for your help!

[Shaunice1]

Hello,
my apartment in 746 Portola Ter, it is still available. Has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. Rent 1200 which includes all the utilities.  Pet friendly.
If are you really interesting replay me including some information about you as a renter.
Thanks

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me and hope this e-mail finds you well. We bought this property for our daughter during her studies there, but now she finished the studies and we do not plan on selling the place. That`s why we decided to rent it.

Unfortunately, because of my job, it will be a bit difficult to meet you personally now for the moment we are in NY now and I am unable to travel right now.
Last week I came there to meet with a couple who was interested, but no one was present at the meetings, and I think you can imagine that it's not very comfortable to fly back and forth from NY, especially when work commitments are made.

Because of that we decide to make everything through Airbnb, an international company that mainly deals with rentals.
Through Airbnb, you will inspect the property before to sign the rental agreement. They will organize the inspection and will also assist you in managing the payment. I am paying Airbnb fees, so there will be no extra cost for you.
First of all, I`ll have to make the booking registration for you with Airbnb, and they send you the booking confirmation containing all the rental information along with payment instructions to secure the booking.

You will need to send Airbnb a down payment of 1 month of rent to Airbnb and after they will receive it, an agent will be assigned for your reservation, which will contact you to schedule the perfect time when you can inspect the place. Can be even the same day.
If you like the place, you`ll sign the lease, you`ll get the keys from the Airbnb agent and you can move in right away.
The down payment is a simple formality and by paying you are not obliged to rent the apartment.
After the inspection, if you do not like the place and you do not want to rent it, Airbnb will return your down payment in full immediately.

If you want to proceed, I`m going to need your details (full name, current address and phone number) to can make the booking on your name at Airbnb.

Best,
Lisa & Brian Connell

[Siddharth22]

Thank god I found this online discussion. I am going through the exact same situation where a person from Spain is trying to rent an apartment in Western Canada. The whole thing was bizarre from the beginning. The person sent me pictures of the apartment and after doing a little research found that same apartment with the same pictures on property agent sites for sale. The apartment had actually recently been sold. When asked for clarification on this, the person completely avoided clarifying it and went straight to the airbnb procedure in an attempt to legitimize it. This is the second time I'm facing this issue. 

Everybody please be careful, DO NOT PAY BEFORE MEETING THE OWNER OR THEIR PROPERTY MANAGER AT THE PROPERTY SITE. NO MATTER HOW TEMPTING IT SEEMS.

God I hate scammers!

[Sarah977]

@Siddharth22  It's good you didn't fall for these scams BUT- your advice to not pay before meeting the owner or manager at the property site is completely incorrect- if this were the case, no one could ever rent a place on Airbnb. Airbnb hosts do not allow guests to preview the property- all bookings must be paid for at the time of booking on the Airbnb website and are paid directly to Airbnb. Airbnb holds the funds until 24 hours after a guest checks in, then releases it to the host.

The issue with these scammers is that they do the following things-

 They contact you by email. Airbnb doesn't even allow hosts or guests to exchange email or phone numbers until after a booking is confirmed.

 They have some long story about how they bought the place for their son, daughter, dog, etc. but that they no longer need it so they're Airbnbing it.

 They use a fake Airbnb URL.

 They ask for all your personal information.

 They tell you that an Airbnb agent will meet you with the keys and show you the place. Airbnb does not work like this and doesn't have agents that meet anyone, not do they handle keys.

They will ask you to wire money.

You won't be able to find that listing on the official airbnb.com site.

Those are the warning signs of a scam listing. Not  whether you can see the listing before paying.

[Christopher735]

Hey!  I think I’m seeing the same one. I saw it on Craigslist for a place on Tupper street in Vancouver. Is this the same one?  They say they were moved to Spain for work. 

[Deidra3]

I am also looking for a place in Vancouver and ran into someone saying they were in Spain for work. Probably the same person.