URGENT!! SCAM LISTING AND PROFILE!

Ben157
Level 2
New South Wales, Australia

URGENT!! SCAM LISTING AND PROFILE!

Hi all,

 

I just wanted to alert you all of a major scam. This person is using my profile picture as theirs.
I am a superhost with reviews, business travel ready, etc. This person is using my profile picture and name and has none of the above, they have a 4% response rate.

Please if you can report this user and listing and lets get them off Airbnb together and protect this great community that we are so lucky to be apart of. Thank you in advance.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/14447353
https://www.airbnb.com.au/users/show/88969018

 

Thanks Ben

BONDI EIGHT TWO NINE TWO

5 Replies 5
Gerry-And-Rashid0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Ben157

 

Have you contacted AirBnB? 

 

Twitter is easiest and search for AirBnBhelp.

 

This forum is just for hosts to swap information, etc.. and help each other. We can't remove profiles, or validate what you are saying.

 

Hope you get it sorted quickly!

 

(Certainly looks fake asking them to contact via email, etc... and I have flagged it)

This is just another variation of a similar scam listing that @Louise posted on this same board the other day. This kind of thing occurs most in highly demanded, expensive locations such as Manhattan, Miami, and apparently Bondi Beach. The spammer makes a fake listing using photos ripped off from either real listings or other websites, and directs naive users to contact them off-site. 

 

Posting alerts like yours does help to get the listings flagged by multiple people. But unfortunately, they tend to stay up for a distressingly long time after being flagged. Either Airbnb is playing whack-a-mole with hundreds of spam listings a day, or they don't have enough resources committed to reviewing listings.

 

My own opinion is that new listings should be subject to staff review before they go live, as spammers tend to focus on frictionless systems that they can easily manage with bots. But that would take several dedicated employees and cost money without adding anything to profits, so it's unlikely to happen.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hi @Ben157

 

You need to call Airbnb now. Unfortunately it seems Airbnb don't repond immediately to reports - there isn't even somewhere where you can flag scam listings.

Cormac0
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

@Ben157

 

Hi Ben

 

can you please post this under my "False Site Bounty" post in host voice as id like to consolidate these false sites.

 

Regards

 

Cormac

The Explorer's Club Krakow.

 

 

 

 

Helga0
Level 10
Quimper, France

I flagged it, in the hope, just as @Anonymous says, that a lot of flags get more attention. 

The procedure is not optimal, you can't even give a link to the real profile or any explanation. That lets suppose, that no human has a look on it, if there are not many flags.