I’ve stayed in a handful of AirBnBs before but something struck me as unusual about my upcoming stay in LA. It’s a ‘team’ of people that engage in correspondence but the official host is named "Ryan’ and he his profile photo looked funny to me so I reverse image-searched on Google and this was the result. It’s the same guy right just with the coloration changed a bit?
Why would a legitimate professional organization use fake photos? Supposedly their identity has been verified by AirBnB (they have that badge) and the reviews are positive. But feels pretty fishy to me.
The reviews could very well be shills/written by the “team” itself. The fake photo is as a big a red flag as it could get.There have been a number of spammers here who have used similar style photos as their avatar.
It’s definitely the same guy (but not the same photo). There is a very long shot that Ryan is a legit model for stock photos and an AIrBnB host, but I would certainly not bet that way.
The thing to do is report it to AirBnB themselves, including your evidence, and they can follow up. AIUI, they take lying about that sort of thing pretty seriously.
Great article about AirBNB scams. It’s two years old, so I don’t know what’s changed, if anything–but what you’re seeing is one of the flags of a scam:
From the subject line, I entered this thread thinking that the stock photo was of the house to be rented. That would definitely spook me out of the deal.
But it’s not the place. it’s the host. So the advice given upstream is good ideas, and I would only add: Don’t just contact Airbnb, maybe also ask the host directly.
I think I’ve stumbled onto a larger problem here. I just checked a second random Santa Monica listing and it has a fake photo too. What on earth is going on at AirBnB?
Browsing through the Airbnb community boards, it sounds like it’s not unheard of for management companies to use stock photos for the host picture. There isn’t really a host person to show, but they still want to show someone to make it seem more personal.
By itself, I wouldn’t call it a red flag. But I might look more closely for other things that seem off.
As an aside, in my city, AirBNB management companies are sucking the oxygen out of the housing market, to such a degree that a lot of workers in the community are losing their rental homes as they’re converted to short term rentals. I have mixed feelings about folks renting their own downstairs out as an AirBNB, but the companies are doing some real harm to folks. (Libertarians, I know, I know, you don’t need to argue this one with me). So a management company is a red flag for me.
To be clear, I’ve used airbnb - I’ve had good to great experiences (almost) every time. Depending on what you’re looking for, it may be a great option for you. But, as a company they’ve found it cheaper to be reactive than proactive about issues.
I wouldn’t be as worried about the stock photo for the owner (racism and sexism are known problems on AirBnB. I could well imagine an owner deciding to sidestep that by putting up a picture of a generic white guy. Or having a management team use a photo as a substitute for a company logo). But check to make sure that the photos of the property are actually photos of the property. Also, check the reviews and make sure the reviewers have other reviews and other hosts have reviewed them.
The last apartment building I lived in (which was in LA) did not allow renters to sublet through AirBnB. (We weren’t allowed to sublet, period, but they had a specific policy against AirBnB, just in case anyone thought that might be an exception to the rule.) If I were of a mind to break that rule and sublet my place, I’d want to conceal my identity until I was deep in negotiations with someone I felt confident was a legitimate customer and not my building management. Not saying that’s the most likely possibility here, just one I haven’t seen raised. I, too, would be nervous in your shoes.
