Airbnb is actually a very safe way to stay somewhere when looking for a place as a guest. Not only is the platform strict with host expectations and procedures, but the concept of verification, community reviews and a ‘Superhost’ system means that you’re in relatively safe hands when travelling. Here’s some common Airbnb scams to look out for as a guest.
Despite these levels of verification and safety, sadly in all aspects of life, scammers exist everywhere.
There are some things short term let platforms just can’t oversee during bookings unless reported. As such, you do need to keep your wits about you just in case you fall victim to any opportunistic behaviour.
Thankfully, bad hosts and bad properties don’t stay on the site for long before being removed or flagged. Given the way Airbnb works and operates, they tend to be weeded out by the community pretty quickly. That’s if not detected and removed by Airbnb automatically themselves.
Bait and Switch
This is a classic holiday rental scam and has been around long before Airbnb. It involves you booking a perfectly acceptable home as normal.
Shortly before you arrive however, (or even on the day of arrival) you receive a message from the host.
This message explains that an issue has occurred at the property, and they can no longer host you there. This is usually an excuse of a maintenance issue or problem from the previous guest.
Often the excuse is something such as a flood from the bathroom or no running water in the property.
The ‘solution’.
Instead, they offer alternative accommodation which ends up being a less attractive or smaller property than you had originally booked. The host may offer to discount you a fraction to get you to accept the new place.
Often, a guest tired from travelling will reluctantly accept the offer rather than spend the night finding alternative accommodation at the last minute. The risk being that the guest may be homeless for the night in a strange location if they refuse.
By agreeing to the alternative and inferior accommodation, you will have accepted the hosts offer. In doing so it can be hard to get any money back from the rental platform you are using. In the eyes of the platform, the host will have provided a resolution that you accepted.
The Truth
When this scam occurs, the first property you booked doesn’t often even exist. The host may use this method to compete in a highly saturated or competetive area to stay fully booked.
By showing a more impressive property, hosts can ensure they keep getting bookings. Even if some guests refuse the alternative accommodation, the host knows there is a good chance that almost all guests will still stay with them.
As a result, the inferior property stays profitable which otherwise wouldn’t stand a chance against local competition.
Now don’t get me wrong, accidents do happen all the time in short term rentals. It’s true that these happen more so than in a normal home.
Guests can be clumsy, and they do damage things all the time. It’s often not possible to get a handyman last minute to fix something. I’ve had to notify new guests of issues that have happened from the previous guests on several occasions.
This includes damage to amenities I am unable to replace in time which were listed as available when they booked.
But in most cases a genuine host will try and work with you to get you into the original property. Airbnb now penalises hosts by charging them for an alternative hotel if they can’t prove the damage was from the previous guest.
This has worked to discourage these types of scams from existing. If in doubt, contact Airbnb support for help and advice if this occurs to you on a trip.
It’s important to check a host’s reviews and to stay with hosts that have received a lot of good feedback. If several reviews mention being moved to alternative accommodation at the last minute, be wary.
Fake Listings
Similar to the above, a host may mislead a guest with images that are over embellished or not strictly accurate. It’s always difficult to get the full impression of a property by the pictures alone. Images are always going to show a property as favourably as possible.
But if the images suggest something that doesn’t transpire or exist during the booking, you may have been mislead.
One example would be showing an image of a bubbling hot tub in the images. On arrival you find isn’t filled with water or is out of bounds.
Take note of the review comments and the accuracy rating of the property before booking.
Fake accounts and listings can crop up all the time. Scammers use all manner of methods, including fake ID’s to quickly take and move money. You can do a ‘reverse image search’ on google to see if the same property images are elsewhere online.
It’s possible that the host is hosting their home on multiple platforms but if something doesn’t feel right, don’t book.
An example would be the same property being listed in another country with the same images.
Too Good to be True
It’s possible that a new host with an amazing property has reduced the price just to get their first booking. When first hosting, the first few positive feedback’s are vital to get up and running.
If you aren’t sure if it’s legitimate, ask questions beforehand and see how the host responds.
Avoid asking questions like “Is this property real?” or “Is this a scam?”. Nobody is going to admit to running a scam. As with anything in life, If it looks too good to be true, it probably could be.
Poor Cleanliness
Unfortunately, everyone’s idea of cleanliness is different. What may be acceptable for one person may be dirty for another. Because some guests may not notice or may tolerate a lower standard of cleanliness you may find some leave 5-star reviews for properties that maybe aren’t that clean.
It’s also possible that a property once was 5 star clean historically, but hasn’t been cleaned as thoroughly since then. Cleanliness trends in a property can and do change.
I once stayed in a full property Airbnb which had a 3.7 star rating. It was constantly booked and had many 5 star rated reviews regarding cleanliness. It was grimy, the bed was broken and there was no form of bedding protection on the mattress.
The bed itself had an almost translucent thin sheet between myself and the bare mattress. Needless to say, it was a horrible stay, and I learnt my lesson.
I personally would avoid a property if it was under 4.3 stars for cleanliness. With lots of regular reviews leaving high ratings, it should never drop below these numbers if it’s genuinely clean. In fact most very clean properties will not dip below 4.7 – ever.
Be sure to take all ratings into account, rather than trusting the last guest who left a 5 star review.
Whilst not technically a scam on the hosts part, you can still feel pretty cheated as a guest. These kind of properties make guests wary of using Airbnb again and not all hosts are like this.
Asking for payment off-site
Airbnb does actually allow select payments to occur off the site for additional property fees for various things. However, these must be monitored via the Airbnb payment system.
Be wary of a host offering to refund part of your payment in exchange for a cash payment instead. Or worse, intimidating behaviour demanding extra cash when you get there. In this instance, make sure you contact Airbnb customer service for support. They can make sure anything that is asked of you is legitimate and fair.
Any genuine host would actively make sure any further payments were published via your Airbnb messages so everything is recorded.
A good host would also want to make things as clear as possible before you arrive to manage your expectations.
Airbnb doesn’t allow hidden charges and any potential fees should be presented to you before booking.
Do not click links sent via Airbnb message or SMS from your host without checking with Airbnb first. There is rarely a need to come off site from Airbnb, if it all.
Fake Reviews
Airbnb works hard to prevent hosts purposely leaving fake reviews from friends, family or fake accounts. These can be hard to spot or identify when you’ve just happened across a listing for the first time.
Airbnb automatically flags suspicious reviews itself in most cases. However by sticking to properties that have been operating for a while, you can ensure that your experience is always positive.
You can select to only view properties from Superhosts for peace of mine. This system is pretty much a guarantee of a legitimate and stress-free stay,
Look for short or really generic reviews of “Great Property” “Good” or “Excellent Stay”. Genuine guests tend to leave more detail for a one-off visit. Having said this, I do have regulars who have stayed so often, they leave shorter reviews than they did with their first booking.
If a property is all the same people leaving short reviews from their first stay, be wary. However, if there are a mix of one-time bookings with lengthy good reviews (as their should be) this will be a legitimate property. Genuine reviews tend to give more detail and will go into specifics.
Likewise as a guest, you have a responsibility to review fairly and accurately so that other guests can also know what to expect.
Summary
There’s very little chance that you’ll end up with problems by using Airbnb, but there are things you can do to make sure you don’t fall foul of any poor hosts.
Remember, good hosts stick around for a long time and work hard on their reputation. Bad hosts fly-by-night for a quick buck and don’t care about making a lasting impression.
Sticking with long operating hosts and ‘Superhosts’ is the best way to travel safely!
Despite all of the above concerns, renting with Airbnb remains an incredibly safe way to stay outside of hotels.
Airbnb support is available round the clock to assist and if anything causes concern or questions during your trip. And a quick call to Airbnb support can help resolve any issue or query you have.