Victim of an Airbnb scam between private individuals

Thibault, a young graduate aged 22, was the victim of a rental scam on the famous online platform for renting accommodation between private individuals and/or professionals. He tells us about his misadventure.

A last-minute flat search

It's September, and Thibault is a young man of 22 who has just signed his first contract in Lyon. Having heard the good news in September, Thibault had to start looking for a flat at a rather difficult time, as he was also back at school. His father kindly offered to help him with the search.

After a dozen or so visits to flats, rentals and flat-shares, Thibault and his father were beginning to lose hope. There are a lot of people looking for a flat at this time of year, and to find one you have to be very reactive. One day, the son and father came across a rather interesting advert for a shared flat.

On the face of it, a very interesting announcement

The ad was placed by the owner of the shared property, Otis. He said he was looking for a flatmate to supplement his income. Thibault, our young graduate, was his usual cautious self and was quick to do some research on the internet to see if it was a scam and if the property didn't already exist in other ads. After a few searches, nothing came up, so Thibault got in touch with his potential future flatmate.

After a few exchanges, the two men agreed to meet the next day. On the day of the meeting, everything went well and the conversation flowed smoothly. The two men shared a few anecdotes from their lives to get to know each other. Then it was time for a visit. Thibault and his father discovered a very well-equipped flat. At the end of the visit, they told the owner directly of their interest in the property. The owner replied that he had a few visits to make, but that he would be able to give them an answer that evening.

Back in their temporary home, Thibault began to research the owner of the property visited earlier in the day, Otis, out of sheer curiosity. All the information he found seemed to match everything that had been mentioned in their discussion earlier in the day. A few minutes later, Thibault received a positive response to his request to share a flat with Otis. Otis told him that he could move in that evening.

During this second meeting, everything went even better between the two future flatmates. When it came time to sign the tenancy agreement, Thibault pointed out a few errors in the contract but didn't dwell on them.

The amount to be paid on moving in was €1,880, and Thibault's father made the immediate transfer. After this transaction, the two parties parted ways. In the back of his mind, however, Thibault had mixed feelings about the speed with which the contract was signed.

No further news from the owner

The next day, the day Thibault was due to collect the keys to his new flat, he received a message. The owner of the flat explained that he had had to go on holiday earlier than planned with his girlfriend and that he didn't want to disturb our young graduate. Over the weekend, the two young men kept in touch. The new entry to the flat will therefore take place on Monday, when the owner returns.

When Monday arrived, Thibault and his father were at the meeting place, but the owner was not. Thibault tried to contact Otis, but to no avail, as his number seemed to be invalid. The father and son decided to look for Otis and asked around to see if anyone knew the young man. To their great surprise, no-one recognised him.

That afternoon, they decided to go to Otis's work, but the premises didn't exist. It wasn't an office but a building that only housed private individuals. All the other information they had found on the internet about Otis a few days earlier was nowhere to be found.

It was in fact an Airbnb

The next day, after doing some research on the internet, Thibault found out about the Airbnb scams. The process was the same: offer a flat for rent, pretending to be the owner, collect the deposit and disappear. After a few searches on Airbnb, Thibault came across the flat he had visited, where the owner had nothing to do with the famous Otis. So it was definitely an accommodation scam.

Thibault's father tried to lodge a complaint, but the investigation was difficult to set up because Otis had presented himself under a false identity. Even the bank account was under a false identity and in any case it had already been closed.

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There are a lot of rental scams on websites for individuals. It's important to be vigilant, even when you're in need.

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