Rental scams using AI surge across Europe; Airbnb deploys blocking system
Fake rental listings using AI-generated profiles and phishing scams surged across European cities in 2024–2025, leaving tourists stranded and losing an average of £1,937 per victim. Police in France, Italy, and Czech Republic documented the spike. Airbnb responded by removing fake listings and deploying fraud detection and anti-party systems, though the latter has also blocked some legitimate bookings.
What happened
Fake Airbnb and Booking.com rental scams surged across Europe in 2024–2025, with fraudsters using AI-generated profiles, fabricated reviews, and phishing sites mimicking legitimate platforms. Paris police opened 11 investigations during summer 2024 Olympics; Italian Postal Police handled about 19,000 online vacation booking fraud cases in 2024, a 14% increase; and Czech police warned of a 'new wave' of accommodation booking fraud in late 2024.
Victims were lured by below-market prices and paid upfront via bank transfer or phishing sites. Common tactics included off-platform payment requests, fake customer support, and AI-crafted host profiles. The scheme expanded from Paris, Rome, and Prague to Barcelona, Lisbon, and the Canary Islands.
In response, Airbnb removed 59,000 fake listings, blocked thousands more, and deployed fraud detection AI and user education campaigns. Meanwhile, Airbnb uses automated anti-party technology to block bookings flagged as high-risk based on factors such as reservation length and last-minute booking requests. Last year the system deterred about 38,000 bookings in the United States and about 6,300 in Canada.
Reported impact
Victims of rental scams lost on average £1,937 each. Tourists arriving for vacations in Paris, Rome, and Prague found their booked addresses nonexistent or occupied, leaving them stranded.
Airbnb's anti-party blocking system has flagged legitimate bookings as high-risk, preventing some guests from completing reservations over the Halloween weekend and other periods.
Index analysis
Travel-related phishing and fake listing scams rose '500–900% in 18 months' by 2024, according to Booking.com's safety chief, driven partly by AI-generated fakes. Australia's Scamwatch program reported a 600% surge in accommodation booking scams in 2023, with 363 reports mentioning Booking.com compared to 53 in 2022.
Airbnb's automated anti-party technology uses machine learning to flag bookings as risky based on patterns such as short reservation windows and last-minute requests, which can catch legitimate holiday bookings.
Governance controls
Paris imposed €100,000 fines and night limits on short-term rentals; Rome worked with cyber-police; Prague implemented a registration system for vacation rental properties to curb fraudulent listings.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.