Author Topic: Airbnb Fraud: Paying directly via wire transfer  (Read 5700 times)

TexasStash

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Airbnb Fraud: Paying directly via wire transfer
« on: May 07, 2015, 03:41:59 PM »
I found this Gizmodo article interesting: http://gizmodo.com/never-pay-for-airbnb-by-wire-transfer-because-its-alway-1702559921

Seems people are losing a lot of money at times by not considering why in the world they would be required to use a wire transfer to pay for a rental.

The only thing I've ever used a wire transfer for was the down payment on our house.

Tough but good lesson for these people - use credit cards with fraud protection and pay for these types of deals in the sharing economy directly through the company offering the listings!

AH013

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Re: Airbnb Fraud: Paying directly via wire transfer
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2015, 08:23:17 AM »
It sucks they lost money.  I'm sure some of them are older folks who "aren't all there" and deserve some slack.  That said, a fool and their money are soon parted.  I especially like the indignation of some of these victims who act as if AirBnB owes them a refund of money they sent a scammer, violating the clear ToS (and basic common sense) to not send money for something via Western Union or wire transfer, especially if you've never met the person.

Some of them are so unbelievably naive -- you got an email from the "host's wife" who tells you instead of booking through AirBnB to click an instant booking link she'll send you, with wire payment instructions to someone completely unrelated, and your first instinct is not to realize this is a scam and stop, not reaching out to AirBnB to see if this is normal, not asking a friend or family member to see if this is normal, but to ASK THE SCAMMER IF THIS IS NORMAL?!?  Sure!  By the way, that guy with the gloves and mask on who is carrying your TV, laptop, cell phone, camera and stereo out the front door -- he's not an on-call electronics technician doing free service & repairs, he's stealing your shit.

Cpa Cat

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Re: Airbnb Fraud: Paying directly via wire transfer
« Reply #2 on: May 08, 2015, 09:03:55 AM »
Quote
I went to the police station and they informed me that they “don’t handle things like this” and gave me this website.

I know my local police department pretty much just refers all crimes to Gizmodo. It's a budgeting dream.

MgoSam

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Re: Airbnb Fraud: Paying directly via wire transfer
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2015, 09:16:41 AM »
Yeah, it sucks that this happens, but honestly what do they expect? Though I like a bargain and would prefer to avoid paying the service charge and just pay the hosts cash, I didn't and would be very wary had they even hinted at wanting it because that loses protection for both of us.

slugline

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Re: Airbnb Fraud: Paying directly via wire transfer
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2015, 06:46:28 PM »
Quote
I went to the police station and they informed me that they “don’t handle things like this” and gave me this website.

I know my local police department pretty much just refers all crimes to Gizmodo. It's a budgeting dream.

Ha! By the time you get that far down, it is easy to forget that Gizmodo is quoting from the FTC.