Eight months ago, a bizarre twist of technology left one individual in London grappling with an unexpected Airbnb booking in the name of ‘Rachel.’
After booking an Airbnb using a new iPhone, the confirmation email addressed a stranger named Rachel. As it turns out, the platform had logged the individual into Rachel’s account using their newly assigned work phone number and Face ID. According to Airbnb, the phone number had been recycled and was previously linked to Rachel’s account. Although no initial payment was taken, the reservation was immediately canceled, and another property was booked.
However, two weeks later, around £500 was deducted from the individual’s PayPal account for what seemed to be Rachel’s Airbnb booking. Despite repeated attempts to rectify the situation, Airbnb insisted that either the account details were shared with a friend or relative for a legitimate booking or that a refund had already been processed. Yet, no refund was received.
Airbnb’s response was deemed insincere, claiming they had secured the account once the issue was reported and that this type of problem is extremely rare. They asserted that a full refund had been issued, yet failed to acknowledge the eight-month struggle and the need for media intervention to reclaim the funds.
There were further concerns about how such an incident could occur. Questions arose regarding Airbnb’s practice of logging users in with just a phone number and associating a debit card with the wrong account. Despite these inquiries, Airbnb did not provide satisfactory explanations.
This incident underscores potential vulnerabilities in Airbnb’s account security protocols. Users are encouraged to be vigilant and ensure their account information is secure, especially when dealing with recycled phone numbers.
Source: Theguardian