A TEEN was left in tears after working endless overtime to pay almost £1,000 for her dream home on ‘Airbnb’ – but it was all a scam.
Courtney Parker, 18, spotted the “perfect” one-bedroom studio on Facebook Marketplace – clicking on a link that appeared to take her to Airbnb.
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The 18-year-old was asked for £983 – made up of a £480 security deposit, £480 first month’s rent and £23 ‘Airbnb service charge’ – to secure the flat, which boasted a balcony with views across Leeds city centre skyline.
When the payment failed using the ‘Airbnb’ link, the scammer convinced her to bank transfer the cash to their ‘business account’ instead.
The payment was then followed up with a “legitimate-looking Airbnb confirmation email.”
But when the doggy daycare assistant and her boyfriend Kaden Walker turned up at the apartment to see it for the first time and collect their keys, the ‘landlord’ never turned up.
A security guard for the building informed the young couple that they had likely been scammed – as he’d seen multiple people turn up for an apartment on the 16th floor to have the same thing happen to them.
With nowhere to live, the pair were forced to move back in with family members separately.
They are now speaking out to warn others of offers that appear “too good to be true” – and to always view properties.
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Courtney, from Cross Green, Leeds, said: “I did ask to see the flat but she said ‘there’s no need, you’ll like it anyway’.
“I thought that was a bit strange because every place I asked to view let me but I thought because it was through Airbnb it would be fine – I’ve used Airbnb before and you never view your room before you book.
“If it hadn’t been through Airbnb I would never have done it, it was because they used that company name that I fell for it.
“It was devastating because I picked up so many hours at work to get the extra money to afford it, picking up weekend work and working late.
“I’m struggling now for my car insurance money because I’m £1,000 down for nothing.
“I didn’t know how to feel, I was so shocked. When I was on the phone to the bank I started crying.
“I’ve worked so hard for this money, it’s not like I’m one of those teenagers that just sits at home all day and gets money handed to them, I’ve worked since I was 13.”
The teen paid the full £983 sum for the flat that she and her boyfriend Kaden, 19, were going to share – half of which she says Kaden was going to pay her back once they had got their bond back for their first flat.
The young couple had chosen the property because it was listed at the “too good to be true” monthly cost of £480 with all bills included.
They said the ‘legitimate-looking’ Airbnb advert and ‘business’ Whatsapp accounts of the scammer convinced them the listing was real without viewing the property before their move-in date on 20 October.
But Airbnb has since confirmed that the link was in fact to a fake website designed to dupe people who trust the brand name.
It appears the scammer has used images from someone else’s flat to populate their listing.
FLAT SCAM
Courtney said: “Our lease was coming to an end so we just searched on Facebook marketplace and found this flat.
“I thought this one is perfect – it had a massive view over Leeds and I was really looking forward to moving in.
“We tried to pay through the Airbnb link she sent but it didn’t go through so she said we could try transferring to her business account instead because that’s how we’d do our monthly payments anyway.
“I did the bank transfer and straight away she sent me a confirmation email that looked like a legitimate Airbnb confirmation email so I thought it was real.
“Just before I was about to leave work to collect the keys I messaged saying we’d be half an hour but it didn’t go through and the profile photo had gone. I tried calling and the call didn’t go through either so we just decided to go and see.
“We must have been there for about an hour and a half when the security guard came over and said ‘by any chance is it the 16th floor?’ and as soon as he said that we knew.
“He said I think it’s a scam, you need to report it to the police and get in touch with your bank. He’d seen another person that day but said people have been previously as well.”
Courtney and her boyfriend had already told their current landlord they would be moving out and packed up all of their belongings when they realised they’d been scammed.
In the aftermath of the scam, the couple messaged the fraudster again – this time from Kaden’s account – and say they were sent the same fake ‘Airbnb link’ with a different name and bank account attached.
They were sent the same details as their original transaction for a different apartment listing, leaving them convinced a sophisticated fraudster is behind a number of rental listings on Facebook Marketplace.
Courtney said: “They’ve got loads of different Facebook accounts and send Whatsapp links with loads of different names and bank accounts as well.
“We went back to the advert on Facebook and my boyfriend messaged her this time and she sent him a new link on Whatsapp which had a different name, phone number and photo.
‘AIRBNB’ FRAUD
“They’re advertising different apartments as well – I saw another one in Leeds and knew it was too good to be true but I messaged them anyway to see and they sent me the same details I got the first time for a different apartment.”
Thankfully, a family friend is now letting the pair stay at their recently renovated apartment free of charge until they have recovered financially from the scam and are able to save another deposit and start renting again.
Courtney said: “I think it’s absolutely disgusting – how can people do this and get away with it.
“My family has offered to give me some of the money back but it’s my mistake and you have to learn from your mistakes.
“Anyone looking for a flat online needs to view it and if they don’t let you view it don’t hand over any money at all.”
Airbnb has advised users to only communicate and pay on the official website so that payments are handled through their secure payment service.
Courtney reported the incident to West Yorkshire Police and was referred to fraud investigators who are now looking into the case.
A spokesperson for Action Fraud confirmed that they had received the case on 20 October 2021 and it is currently being investigated by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
A Spokesperson for Meta (Facebook) said: “We’re sorry to hear that Courtney was misled in this way, and we encourage people to report sophisticated scams like this to the police.
“We’ve dedicated significant resources to tackle the industry-wide issue of online scams by working to detect and remove scam ads and fraudulent behaviour.
“We continue to invest in new technologies and methods to protect people, and have donated £3 million to Citizens Advice to deliver a UK Scam Action Programme which raises awareness of online scams and helps victims.”
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