Scammers are hijacking Airbnb's users' accounts and burgling them once they have gained access to their homes, a BBC investigation found.
Three people contacted the news organization and told them that their homes burgled by spammers who hijacked their accounts after they advertised their properties on Airbnb.
The hackers chose those users who got great reviews on the website. After hacking user's accounts, hackers changed their personal details to pull off the theft. They used a number of techniques to steal users’ passwords, such as a phishing attack or malware.
One of the victims, Christian told the BBC that he had led out his apartment to one of the guests from Airbnb, while he was away for his birthday for a few days. ‘While I was enjoying the hotel, having breakfast…I got that horrible text message saying somebody is in the flat. It’s not me because my account had been compromised. Obviously, my birthday was over.’
The BBC investigation team informed this to Airbnb and now they are cracking down on scammers by tightening their security.
Co-founder of Airbnb, Nate Blecharczyk, told the news site: ‘Unfortunately there have been some incidents where hosts and guests have suffered.
‘This is not acceptable to us, therefore we’re working around the clock to do everything we can to improve our detection and prevention methods.’
However, in the official statement company said: ‘These incidents are simply unacceptable and while the experience is incredibly rare, we are not complacent.
‘Today we announced a number of new safety defenses to better tackle fraudulent activity.’
Three people contacted the news organization and told them that their homes burgled by spammers who hijacked their accounts after they advertised their properties on Airbnb.
The hackers chose those users who got great reviews on the website. After hacking user's accounts, hackers changed their personal details to pull off the theft. They used a number of techniques to steal users’ passwords, such as a phishing attack or malware.
One of the victims, Christian told the BBC that he had led out his apartment to one of the guests from Airbnb, while he was away for his birthday for a few days. ‘While I was enjoying the hotel, having breakfast…I got that horrible text message saying somebody is in the flat. It’s not me because my account had been compromised. Obviously, my birthday was over.’
The BBC investigation team informed this to Airbnb and now they are cracking down on scammers by tightening their security.
Co-founder of Airbnb, Nate Blecharczyk, told the news site: ‘Unfortunately there have been some incidents where hosts and guests have suffered.
‘This is not acceptable to us, therefore we’re working around the clock to do everything we can to improve our detection and prevention methods.’
However, in the official statement company said: ‘These incidents are simply unacceptable and while the experience is incredibly rare, we are not complacent.
‘Today we announced a number of new safety defenses to better tackle fraudulent activity.’