The Hunt for a Lisbon Apartment: How the Scam Began
My story starts in Lisbon, Portugal. Like many nomads, I was looking for a place to settle for a few weeks. After hitting a wall on the official Airbnb site, I turned to a familiar alternative for longer-term deals: Craigslist. There, I found several appealing apartments in my price range.
One listing stood out—a beautiful 1-bedroom apartment hosted by a man named 'Reynolds Daniel'. He was responsive, professional, and seemed completely legitimate. He explained that for everyone's safety, he exclusively used Airbnb to handle the booking and payment.
This is where the deception began. He pitched a process that sounded perfect: pay the full amount upfront through Airbnb, and their 'buyer protection' would allow me to view the apartment upon arrival. If it wasn't as advertised, I could get a full, instant refund. This mirrored my understanding of Airbnb's policies and felt like a secure way to proceed.
The Trap is Set: The Fake Airbnb Website
A few days later, 'Reynolds' sent the booking link. I clicked it, and my browser opened a page that was, for all intents and purposes, Airbnb. The logo, the layout, the fonts—it was a perfect clone. As an experienced user, I felt right at home. The page displayed the price we had discussed: €2,700 (about $3,300 USD) for three months plus a deposit. It even featured ten glowing 5-star reviews.
I was seconds away from entering my payment information. But something felt slightly off. My experience using the real platform so many times created a gut feeling that I couldn't ignore. I decided to take a closer look, and that's when the scam began to unravel.
The 4 Red Flags That Saved Me from a $3,300 Loss
Even the most convincing scams have flaws. Here are the four critical red flags I identified that you should burn into your memory:
1. The Deceptive URL
This was the biggest giveaway. At a glance, the URL looked right, but a careful inspection revealed the truth. The address in my browser was:
www.airbnb.com-request-booking.space/booking/...
My brain initially saw "www.airbnb.com" and felt reassured. However, the true domain is the part that comes just before the first slash ('/'), which in this case was .com-request-booking.space. The real Airbnb URL is simply www.airbnb.com. Scammers add the familiar name as a subdomain to trick you. Always check that the URL is _exactly_ `https://www.airbnb.com/` and nothing else.
2. The Exact Address Was Displayed
The fake listing showed the apartment's full street address and unit number. This is a massive red flag. For safety and privacy, the real Airbnb _never_ reveals the exact address of a property until after your booking is officially confirmed and paid for through their secure platform.
3. The Out-of-Place Live Chat Feature
In the bottom right corner of the fake site was a live chat icon, promising instant support. While convenient, this is not a standard feature on official Airbnb listing pages. Airbnb's support channels are accessed through the designated 'Help' section, not a persistent chat box on every listing. It was an added feature designed to build false trust.
4. A Quick Google Search Confirmed Everything
Trusting my gut, I copied part of the suspicious URL and searched Google for "airbnb.com-request-booking.space scam". The results were immediate and damning. Articles from major news outlets like The Guardian detailed this exact phishing scheme, confirming I was dealing with a well-documented fraud.
A Warning: The Scam Can Also Start on the REAL Airbnb Platform
Don't assume you're safe just because your initial contact was on the official site. A common variation of this scam involves a host communicating with you on the real Airbnb platform, building trust, and then asking to move the conversation to email or WhatsApp to "discuss details." Once you're off-platform, they send you the same kind of link to their fraudulent payment site. The golden rule is to keep all communication and payments strictly within the official Airbnb website or app.
