<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-19/travellers-scammed-fake-accomodation-listings-booking-airbnb/104218806>
'When travellers arrived at a Sunshine Coast property claiming to have booked
accommodation, the owners didn't know what was happening.
The new arrivals said they had made a reservation via Booking.com — but the
business had not listed the property on the platform and the rooms were
occupied with other guests.
Owners Katie and Rob soon discovered two listings for their luxury
accommodation they did not create.
The people who booked had not only been scammed — having provided their banking
details to secure the reservation — but they also had nowhere to stay for the
night.
"We had a couple crying because they were so devastated," Katie said.
"We felt very helpless having guests turning up that believed they were our
guests, but they weren't, and having no support to help them.
"We couldn't do anything to help them other than be kind, try and explain it
and get them to change their credit cards."
It happened to the Sunshine Coast business on four different occasions in July.
Katie and Rob believe the information for the listings was copied from Airbnb,
including their logo, description and photos of the property and themselves on
the site.
The couple previously listed their accommodation on the platform but cancelled
it over a year earlier.
They said the two fake listings were advertised as being at different addresses
on their road.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
