Woman discovers her home was listed on Airbnb by a stranger
A woman has shared her terrifying experience of when she discovered a stranger had listed her home for rent on Airbnb.
American doctor Shireen Heidari tried desperately to contact Airbnb after realising her home had been listed without her knowledge or consent.
Taking to Twitter to speak about the incident, Dr Heidari said when she initially contacted the person who posted the fraudulent listing, they offered her the option to book her own home.
She said, "Someone has listed my home as their rental, and when I messaged them asking them to take it down, they offered option to book my own home."
"We reported it, but the listing is still active. This is not ok."
Hi @Airbnb - I would really appreciate you contacting me. Someone has listed my home as their rental, and when I messaged them asking them to take it down, they offered option to book my own home. We reported it, but the listing is still active. This is not ok.
— Shireen Heidari, MD (@ShireenNHeidari) March 15, 2022
After sharing the public message online, Shireen's tweet went viral with supportive people reaching out to Airbnb on her behalf to have the listing taken down.
The company eventually responded and took her home off the site, after Shireen showed proof that the house was in fact hers.
She updated her Twitter followers saying, “Update: the listing is down after being reported as fraudulent. We provided proof of ownership. Still not clear what next steps are.”
She also went on to thank the Airbnb representative who stayed on the phone with her until 11pm to help her sort out getting the listing removed.
In response to Shireen’s ordeal, many people chimed in to share similar experiences with Airbnb.
"When we were selling our house, someone hijacked the pictures and were trying to rent it. Several people came over to tour it," one person said. "Be careful.”
Image credits: Getty Images / Twitter