Allie Conti didn't expect to author a 5,000-word piece on her innocuous end-of-summer getaway with friends to Chicago.
Then again, the writer for Vice.com didn't expect to uncover a huge flaw in the Airbnb rental process.
Conti became a victim of a scam that is allowing unscrupulous renters to fool hundreds - if not thousands - of customers in a bait-and-switch.
For a reporter, the circumstances simply became too suspicious. To wit:
-Ten minutes before she was to check in to the Airbnb in Chicago, Conti received a call saying the rental was now unavailable because somebody flushed something down the toilet and flooded the place.
-Conti became suspicious when the man she spoke to had a Los Angeles area code for a Chicago rental and said he could not meet face-to-face, but he did offer her another place to stay. However, he told her he needed an immediate decision, and Conti reluctantly agreed.
-The new place turned out to be a flophouse. Oh, the owner sent Conti some great pictures of the place - cribbed from other rentals from the internet - and agreed to refund her for half the trip if the plumbing issue couldn't be resolved. Also lies.
"The bad news, which went unstated, was that I had unknowingly stumbled into a nationwide web of deception that appeared to span eight cities and nearly 100 property listings-an undetected scam created by some person or organization that had figured out just how easy it is to exploit Airbnb's poorly written rules in order to collect thousands of dollars through phony listings, fake reviews, and, when necessary, intimidation," Conti wrote.
"Considering Airbnb's lax enforcement of its own policies, who could blame the scammers for taking advantage of the new world of short-term rental platforms? They had every reason to believe they could do so with impunity."
Unable to shake the sense that this was a one-off with a bad host - named 'Becky and Andrew' - Conti began investigating further, looking for red flags and anybody else who rented through Becky and Andrew.
What she found was startling. Similar listings, similar names ('Kelsey and Jean', 'Alex and Brittany', 'Rachel and Pete'), similar photos and always a Google telephone number that couldn't be traced by a reverse directory.
And frustration with Airbnb for not policing more thoroughly nor being helpful.
"Airbnb has created a web of more than 7 million listings built largely on trust, easily exploitable by those willing to do so," Conti wrote. "Maybe it's not so surprising that the company would rather play a half-assed game of whack-a-mole than answer basic questions about its verification process. For every person who doesn't receive a complete refund, Airbnb makes money."
The morning after Conti's article was published this week, the FBI contacted VICE about the claims.
This is yet another example of why travelers should always consider working with a travel agent when planning vacations. Not only do travel agents work with trusted hotels and resorts, but they are available to help if an issue does occur.
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