Airbnb partners with financial crimes investigators to combat travel scams | News

On By Rgal Nv

2 min read Last update : August 05, 2024 | 3:02 p.m. IST

The partnership comes after a new consumer study by YouGov, commissioned by Airbnb, revealed that Gen Z and Millennials are most likely to fall victim to travel scams, with victims losing an average of Rs 1,02,233.

The study shows that rising living costs have led almost half of Indian travellers to consider being less cautious when booking their holidays if it means saving them a significant amount of money. More than 40% of Indian travellers would be willing to take a risk to save money, even if they thought a deal was too good to be true.

“When it comes to booking on Airbnb, we encourage our guests to communicate, book and pay only on the platform, where we have in place secure processes and support like Aircover to help protect against scams and ensure issues are rare,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, Managing Director, Airbnb India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Airbnb has several measures in place to protect guest information and bookings. These measures include dedicated teams and systems to proactively deter scams, on-platform messaging between users, on-site reminders to stay on Airbnb to communicate, book, and pay, and guest payment protections, such as withholding payment to owners for a stay for up to 24 hours after check-in.

Airbnb has also worked to combat third-party attempts to exploit its brand. Over the past 12 months, the Airbnb team has detected and mitigated nearly 2,500 third-party phishing domains globally. These scams have become more prevalent due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

First published: August 05, 2024 | 3:02 p.m. IST