Airbnb is one of the most popular platforms for renting vacation homes and apartments, and while it is a totally reliable entity, it is also true that it is quite common to suffer deceptions and scams if you are not careful.
According to Ipsos data, Around 73% of Spaniards have been victims of fraud or scam, and more than half have lost up to 1,000 euros on Airbnb. The problem is that scammers become very sophisticated in their tricks and it is becoming increasingly difficult to detect these fake ads.
And it is no longer just going to a place where When you arrive there is no such house, But there are already many cases in which the victims arrive at the rented apartment and discover that either is already occupied or actually belongs to a person who didn’t even know their house was advertised on Airbnb.
To try to avoid scams on its platform, the company has teamed up with the National Police and the Confianza Online entity to establish some basic principles that users must follow to avoid falling into the scams and deceptions of cybercriminals when renting a home for your vacation.
1. The landlord is abroad
It does not always have to be this way, and many times it can be true, however, if the landlord says that He lives very far away and requires international transfers. It is best to distrust.
2. Too professional
Renting a house on Airbnb is a simple process that requires nothing more than a profile on the platform and a payment, if the landlord offers you make a contract and asks you for a copy of your ID, He is probably more interested in impersonating you than in renting his house to you.
3. You are in a hurry to close the rental
In order not to give you time to realize if it is a scam, the criminal will try to close the rental as soon as possible. For this, many tand they give a period of only 24 hours to decide or claim that they have other guests who want to enter on the same dates so that you can decide as soon as possible.
4. Asks you for payment in advance
Airbnb works in a certain way, and payment, which is the most critical aspect, is done in only one way. Therefore, if the landlord asks you for a payment in advance, a reservation that will supposedly later refund you or make the payment from another platformIt’s probably a scam.
5. Repeat that you work for a trustworthy company
If the landlord constantly claims that he works for Airbnb and insists on how legitimate he is, it is best to be suspicious and seek opinions or experiences of other people with that accommodation before taking the step.
