HACKING in DC- an epidemic?

Fellow HOSTS in Washington, DC (and perhaps other cities). It appears there is an epidemic of false bookings. I have personally spoken with 5 hosts in one week who have had reservations from guests who are well reviewed, provided gov’t photo ID, but are not who is showing up. The false guests have been throwing raging parties and worse, stealing all contents. The reservations are for 2 nights and sometimes in advance, although most have been IB>

Any others? Reach out. THere is a DC Detective working on this. Airbnb, want to share any word on this?

Help me understand not showing up to rental or ID is fake ?

The person showing up is not the guest who was fully vetted. Eg: Suzy has a stellar reputation on airbnb. She books. Her account was hijacked and those who arrive (to keyless entry) are not Susy. Easy to manage if you have security cameras or you meet the guests every time.

karen

Yep scam. Scary. The bad guys are always looking for yet another way to take advantage of others instead of work

I would imagine that it is Suzy’s credit card that is paying for the reservation as well then!

It was Susy. She cancelled card and reservation

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I think all you can do is check ID at check-in to make sure that it is the guests who booked. If it is not then you can reject them and let Airbnb know

This is not addressing your issue but there is a very interesting post on the Air community forum about dodgy host dealings (link to post below).
They have all occurred within the last few weeks. It’s probably unconnected but there is a definite reek of hacking going on. The post is long and zzzz but if you look at the listings, it’s so weird.

Links to the listings have been removed by the Airbnb moderators but here is the source host, apparently:
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/users/show/229505184

You need to follow the links of the reviews left by Britni et al to find out how weird this is.

Like I said, not necessarily connected with your issue but hacking seems appropriate.

Hello Magwitch,

Thanks for your post. They are no longer “linkable” if you have other suggestions for finding the postings I would be grateful.

I have been hacked and hacked again. Now thrown off and heading to Arbitration.

Jennifer

Yes, it appears Air has removed the thread from the community forum and also delisted the host. Welcome to the Soviet Union of Airbnb.

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