A Fake Booking Scam Targeting Airbnb Accounts Could Be Costing You Thousands of Dollars
Ready, set, book. It's actually that easy to browse, find a place (and price) you like online, and click to reserve. Unfortunately, as with anything out on the Internet, having your information out there can be problematic-particularly for your credit card.
In recent news, FOX13 reported a new scam that is targeting Airbnb customers as bookings for summer travel continue to increase. In this scam, criminals are "charging [Airbnb] users with non-refundable reservations at fake destination rentals" and then cancelling the reservations, so people are being charged anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000.
To make matters worse, said scam-artists are then locking users out of their accounts, so they cannot access their accounts to figure out what is going on. Watch the full story here:
An Airbnb spokesperson had this to say to Fox13:
These are isolated incidents and at no point was the Airbnb platform compromised. We have robust systems in place to protect users' accounts and our team of trust and safety experts work hard to constantly strengthen our defenses.
Because there hasn't been a compromise of the Airbnb platform, you shouldn't panic. Though you'll definitely want to take extra precautions and avoid clicking links in emails that might not be legitimate, since phishing emails could be the way scammers are receiving login information.
Visit Fox13 for a list of advice and tips from Airbnb-including what sites and emails to be wary of-in order to stay protected.
Follow House Beautiful on Instagram.
('You Might Also Like',)
