Woman tracks down and turns table on Airbnb scammer
The internet is full of Airbnb scams and accounts told by victims. But there is a twist in this latest story-gone-viral that is usually lacking in most narratives: The victim evens the score.
Airbnb host and scammer "Mr. Tyler" met his match when his would-be guest, TikTok user Olivia (@livvoogus), discovered his personal information after arriving at a property in Florida she could not get into. Her scam suspicions were confirmed that day.
In a TikTok clip detailing the events, she revealed she booked the place months before the New Year's Eve music festival she and her friends planned to attend. The listing didn't raise any red flags, and Mr. Tyler was a Superhost—described as "the best-rated, most experienced hosts" by Airbnb. The property also had good reviews.
Then things got sketchy while driving up to Jacksonville.
"The Airbnb host had sent us two different codes for the door and just stopped responding to any questions that we had, like where to park or how to get into the building—just kind of went ghost," Olivia said. The neighbor came out and told them that a couple who came by last night also couldn't get in, suggesting they were not the only ones Mr. Tyler scammed.
"The person who had lived there got evicted because, according to the lease, you're not allowed to do Airbnbs out of the apartment, and he just never took the listing down," she said.
Enraged, Olivia searched the internet for details about her host and eventually found his name, birthday, and parents' address. She messaged Mr. Tyler to ask if she was supposed to meet him at his parents' place, the address of which she included, because what he gave them was the incorrect address.
"This man called me back. So. Quickly," Olivia enthused. What came next was also recorded and posted on TikTok. The clip was captioned, "when you travel long and far to find out your airbnb is fake and you go to extreme lengths to find out everything about the host and then call them to expose such information."
In the end, Airbnb refunded Olivia, and she found a hotel room. The company paid a percentage of the cost for the following night, although Olivia believes Airbnb should've paid for it all. One TikTok commenter jokingly suggested that Olivia "send a bill to Tyler's parents' house".
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