Mike McLendon

Review of Airbnb

Fraudulent use of my credit card by AirBNB employe...

Fraudulent use of my credit card by AirBNB employee?

I was alerted by my bank that AirBNB had charged my credit card for over $1500.00 USD. I alerted my bank that this charge was fraudulent and should be charged back to the merchant,.

I then contacted AirBNB via their messaging system and reported the charge and asked them to investigate and advise what they find out. Within a couple of hours I received an acknowledgement from AirBNB that they would investigate.

Unfortunately, AirBNB offices are closed over the weekend and I did not hear back from them until the following Monday when they advised that they were closing the case and that I would receive further communications via email.

I then sent this email:
'Please advise under what circumstances did Airbnb make unauthorized charges against my card. Was the thief an Airbnb employee, Airbnb Host or Airbnb guest member? I am also extremely interested in what actions Airbnb undertakes to prevent future abuse.'

I was in turn advised by AirBNB that:'Unfortunately, we're unable to release any information regarding the reservation or the user accounts involved without a formal request from a government agency or law enforcement, such as a subpoena. '

, I have drawn these conclusions:

1. the AirBNB security management has no idea what happened in this case or is unwilling to admit it.
2. There is no indication that AirBNB has or will take preventative action.
3. Data security at AirBNB is possibly vulnerable to attack and data loss may very well be at the heart of this crime.
4. The customer service management does not operate their department over the weekends which in the case of criminal abuse or other serious issues could be very critical.

My recommendation to the reader is that under no circumstances should AirBNB be trusted with any sensitive financial data. The AirBNB employees or their members are quick to make fraudulent charges against a credit card.