Audio By Carbonatix
While Airbnb can occasionally be a nightmare for guests, it isn’t always a walk in the park for hosts, either.
Airbnb has put practices in place to try to prevent scamming on both sides. But that doesn’t mean that the platform is free from scams, as TikTok user Suz (@saltysuz68) can personally attest.
In a video posted to her account with over 63,000 views, she explains how a guest at her Airbnb tried to scam her—and how she fought back.
How Did This Airbnb Host Almost Get Scammed?
In her first video on the topic, Suz notes that she’s an Airbnb Super Host who works “really hard to accommodate all of my guests and to make [her rental] nice and clean and a nice place to land.”
When she got a booking for two weeks—and $1,800—she says she was “super pumped.” She says she even allowed the guest to check in early.
However, things quickly went south.
“The first night, [the renter] said, ‘Hey, does somebody have access to the garage door? It was open this morning.’ And I thought, ‘Hmm.’ I said, ‘No, nobody has access to it,’” Suz says.
“Then, she said, the next day, ‘Oh, I found a roach.’ [She] sent me a picture of this really big roach,” Suz continues. “Mind you, I clean three to four times a week. I’ve also got another cleaner that cleans three to four times in a month for me. And it is spotless.”
However, upon looking more closely at the cockroach, Suz says she suspected something was amiss.
A Cockroach Reveals An Alleged Scam
In her second video, Suz says that this initial roach claim began a series of claims in which the guest alleged that there were bugs on the property—something Suz vehemently denies.
At this point, Suz says she began receiving messages from Airbnb directly.
“Airbnb sends me a message and says, ‘Hey, your guest is complaining that your Airbnb is infested with bugs.’ And I’m like, ‘Hmm, never seen a bug, period.’”
“She showed a really big one—mind you, she’s from Florida—and I said in my message to her, I said, ‘Hmm, that’s weird.’ I said, ‘I’m from Florida. It looks like the Florida roaches.’ She surely planted it,” Suz notes.
Suz does not clarify which kind of cockroach she’s talking about here. Both states have similar cockroaches. But Florida generally has larger American cockroaches, while eastern Tennessee has smaller German cockroaches.
Building A Scam?
“She was building a scam,” Suz declares, later adding that she suspected the guest of bringing bugs in from outside.
Doing further research, Suz says she also discovered that the guest had “mug shots” and had “been evicted from apartments.”
Trying to stop herself from falling victim to a scam, Suz reached out to Airbnb and informed it that they wanted the guest to leave. Suz says she also reached out to the guest herself and offered a full refund if they were out of the house by 11 the next morning.
“But I was like, ‘Get out. Just get off my property. We spent a lot of money on this property, a lot of time and effort. And I don’t want her to mess it up,’” she explains.
While Suz says the guest called her “rude,” the guest did leave the property around 11 the next day. And Suz says she was given a credit from Airbnb for future travel.
The Situation Gets Weirder
Upon returning to the property with her husband, Suz says she discovered that “every light bulb in the house was taken out.”
She says the renter also had been delivering packages to the Airbnb, which, though Suz said was allowed, she now suspects was part of a different scam.
“I guarantee you she has stolen credit cards. And she’s having packages delivered there,” Suz suspects.
Suz concludes by saying that she’s nervous that the woman is still in town.
“Airbnb life: If it was easy, everybody would do it,” she summarizes.
Are Scams Like These Common?
While not especially common, scams like these do happen—even scams specifically regarding fake or placed roaches.
On Airbnb’s community boards, several hosts have made posts claiming that guests have either lied about the presence of roaches or even taken photographs of fake plastic roaches in order to secure a refund. Other users on Reddit have alleged that some guests will attempt to scam by inventing issues with the rental, such as creating messes or staining the beds.
To prevent situations like these, guests can thoroughly document the state of their rental prior to handing it over to a guest. From there, if a guest complains, they can attempt to resolve the issue with Airbnb directly.
Commenters Share Their Thoughts
Suz said that she planned on getting security cameras installed in order to prevent situations like these. However, commenters were quick to share their own experiences and ideas about how scams like these can be prevented.
“I would do a Google reverse image search of the photo she sent you of the roach. prolly fake,” wrote a user.
“Oh geez!! Mugshots ?!? Nope nope nope background checks are a must,” added another.
“We had one who extended her stay… was with us 64 days… and said in her review that we had bugs… the place was dirty and would never stay there again giving us a 1 rating,” recalled a commenter. “She snuck in two birds for which we charge a $10 per night pet fee… we requested the additional fee payment but she refused… Airbnb gave us a partial payment of that fee… but left the bad review on our property.”
BroBible reached out to Suz via email.
Content shared from brobible.com.