Two young women trapped in Annecy add to the long list of people spied on in the shower in Airbnb accommodations.
Update of June 5, 2023, at 2:15 p.m.:
“We were appalled to learn of this incident and we are in contact with the traveler to give her our full support. Airbnb prohibits hidden cameras. As soon as we were informed, we opened an investigation and removed the host’s account as well as the announcement from the platform. We take strict action when this type of extremely rare incident occurs, and we cooperate with law enforcement in their investigation. »
Statement from Airbnb, June 5
As recently as March, we were already alerting you to the proliferation of testimonials from users of the Airbnb platform, spied on in particular in the shower without their knowledge by the owner of the premises. Two friends, who had rented accommodation on Airbnb for the long Ascension weekend last month near Annecy, had the unpleasant surprise to discover, the day after their arrival, that they were filmed in the shower . And yet, the owner enjoyed real popularity on the American platform.
Beware of that clock radio in front of you
Maddy says it herself: it doesn’t just happen to others “. On the second day of her weekend, the young woman, accompanied by her friend Paloma, was surprised that a clock radio was installed right in front of the shower, stuck between several rolls of toilet paper.
The landlady for a weekend then remembered a video seen on TikTok a few weeks earlier, pointing to a clock radio of the same type, in which you can hide a spy camera. ” When Maddy flips it over, she sees there’s an SD card inside. », explains Paloma.
At that point, there is no longer any doubt. Looking more closely at the device, the two young women see that it houses a spy camera. Together, they contact Airbnb, which advises them to leave the accommodation immediately and offers them financial compensation, or else to take charge of a hotel so as not to end their stay. But they preferred to go to the gendarmerie to lodge a complaint, and we can say that they made the right decision.
An owner and an ad yet highlighted by Airbnb
For four hours, the police then watched the videos, realizing that the 32 GB SD card contained many sequences similar to those denounced by Maddy and Paloma, recorded for several months.
The owner of the accommodation, however, gathered the codes that could reassure users and encourage rental, with many opinions (several hundred), each one more positive than the other. In short: an announcement that inspires confidence and that would almost encourage us to book with our eyes closed.
On a TikTok video, Paloma confirms, screenshot in support, that the owner was a “Superhost” (a status attributed to people who receive positive comments, who demonstrate responsiveness and a very low rate cancellation), with 249 reviews and an overall average of 4.78 out of 5, almost perfect, in addition to having been on the platform since 2018. Should we blame Airbnb for that? We might be more tempted to say that we are touching here on the limits of the remote management model.
How to spot a spy camera?
Several solutions exist to possibly find a spy camera in your Airbnb. This is what we offer you:
- Disconnect the internet box from the Airbnb accommodation, and use your own mobile connection;
- Immerse the housing in the dark and use the torch of your smartphone, as if you were taking a photo with the flash activated, to sift through all the objects or locations in which a spy camera could be installed. The shard might save you;
- Check, with your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, that no device with a curious name is nearby. Some apps, like Fing, can do this for you;
- There is also the solution of the electromagnetic radiation detector, very effective. But make sure you get close enough to the suspected objects. Their scope may be limited.
Sources: Clubic, Maddy’s TikTok, Paloma’s TikTok
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