Airbnb’s guide to summer criminals

And not even vacation rentals are exempt from the shadows of scammers. Most of them are illegally exploiting Airbnb, which instructs them on how to identify them.

It is one of the most adopted solutions for summer vacation. Perhaps for this reason, it is not excluded from the treacherous shadow of those who try to exploit it. Holiday homes, the main tool in the summer period, especially for families, They failed to evade the specter of fraud, With frequent news stories that marked the recent (and even earlier) summer of some Italians. A scam system that can, in some circumstances, be just as deadly as those navigating the web. Also because reservations are mostly made online.

The vacation home proposals themselves arrive via email. On July 20, for example, a girl came across an apartment suitable for a romantic vacation. An attractive offer prompted her to book the apartment (in Massa Lumbarda, in the province of Ravenna) Pay the amount due 1500 euros by bank transfer. After that, the connection to the hubs is interrupted. The girl contacted Airbnb, who were sending emails on her website, only to discover that what was received did not correspond to the truth.

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Vacation rental scams: Airbnb explains how to avoid them

In order to avoid similar incidents, Airbnb itself, in cooperation with the Department of Public Safety, has issued a vademecum to guide customers in online booking, providing important details of Distinguish a real show from a potential scam. For example, you should always be wary of those who demand documents, draft contracts to order and with a certain speed of concluding the transaction within 24 hours. The booking page and invoice will also be incorrectly attributed to Airbnb. Naturally, after filing, the interlocutor will disappear.

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The site offers other examples, such as an “IT technician,” or a scammer who actually creates a (mock) Airbnb ad, but once contacted, he’ll ask to continue negotiating via email. It will later remove the ad saying it is no longer visible due to a technical issue. or “Compare”, which offers vacation rentals with no comments since the ad was recently created. Then, in a friendly tone, Will suggest a discount but not act on AirbnbAsking the customer to cancel the reservation. Once you collect the bank transfer, it will evaporate. The main advice is to never pay by bank transfer. If a deposit is required, contact Airbnb directly, through their website to make payments. The staff will keep the amount from the credit card and then credit it 24 hours after check-in, to check that everything is ok. The other advice is not to talk with off-site bidders. It’s also a logical question.