The Airbnb Scam To Avoid By Watching Out For This Red Flag

Imagine this: You're tired, vulnerable, and have (barely) managed to navigate your way around a foreign city after a long flight. Your Airbnb host contacts you, informing you of a last-minute problem with your supposed booking and offering you an alternative accommodation instead. What's that red cloth waving at you from the distance, you ask? That's a major red flag indicating a notorious bait-and-switch scam, which unfortunately happens more often than you'd think in the world of short-term platform rentals. 

You can meticulously plan that once-in-a-lifetime vacation, but nothing catches you off guard quite like a smooth, well-practiced scam. Euronews reported that peak season increases the chances of getting scammed by 28%, and that's coming from different travel-related industries like fake travel agencies, car rental companies, and even the restaurant sector. Yet accommodation scams, particularly Airbnb-related ones, feel like a blow below the belt as they contradict the company's mission, which, the platform says in a business report, is to "create a world where anyone can belong anywhere and we are focused on creating an end-to-end travel platform that will handle every part of your trip."

Bait-and-switchers want to catch guests off-guard, so they spring the scam on unsuspecting victims as close to check-in as possible — faulty facilities or booking issues are the usual culprits — before putting guests in an awkward position: either switch accommodations, or find another one at the last minute. Should guests accept the alternative accommodations, they may find themselves in apartments that are subpar compared to the original booking. The scam was so prolific that in 2024, two individuals were indicted on charges of generating over $8.5 million through a bait-and-switch scam targeting thousands of Airbnb and VRBO victims. Despite this, many hosts are still using the tactic on Airbnb guests. So, if you must use the platform, avoid the scam by keeping an eye out for these red flags.

So what should you do if you find yourself in the thick of a bait-and-switch? Know that you can perfectly refuse your host's proposed alternative. Handle all communication with your host via the platform for hard evidence (take screenshots when possible). Then, let Airbnb handle the situation by letting them cancel the booking on your behalf — canceling it yourself will leave you responsible for settling cancellation and reservation fees.

The best thing you can do to avoid this scam is thoroughly read through an Airbnb property's reviews before you book. Other bait-and-switch scam victims are likely to speak up regarding last-minute switches (although complaints of negative feedback being scrubbed for violating Airbnb's review guidelines remain an ongoing issue). 

Do a little sleuthing by checking the host's profile for anything suspicious: Does the host own multiple (and suspiciously similar-looking) properties? Is the price too good to be true for such a beautiful unit? Does the host's Airbnb profile seem fake or incomplete? Run a reverse image search on the listing's photos on Google Images, a great tip for spotting fake photos on an Airbnb listing. This very tactic helped kick-start the investigation into the aforementioned bait-and-switch scammer indictment: "Through a reverse image search, I also realized that the profile picture Becky and Andrew had used on Airbnb was a stock photo from a website that hosts surfing-themed desktop wallpapers," wrote a Vice journalist, who herself fell victim to the scam. Being scammed is not a walk in the park, and is even more frustrating when it happens during a vacation. So, for future trips, maybe heed the advice of travel guru Rick Steves, who begs travelers to stop booking Airbnbs for some very eye-opening reasons.