THE criminal mind is an ingenious scheming instrument, always coming with ways to dupe unsuspecting victims.
This was certainly the case of a scam shared by digital creator mhmmdhsm (@mhmmdhsm) whereby a hapless individual found his wallet RM5,000 lighter after being duped into thinking an AirBnB lodging was for a long-term lease.
Modus operadi terbaru jadi agent sewa rumah tapi sebenarnya adelah sewa rumah airbnb… bawa client tengok rumah semua dah sign agreement lepas tu lesap gais..
Tolong la lepas ni berhati2 kalau cari rumah sewa , taktahu ini mangsa or mmg betul2. Tuan badan lesap RM5000 pic.twitter.com/rDP8rrQ1GL
— mhmmdhsm (@mhmmdhsm) April 27, 2025
The victim claimed that a young lady scammer had shown him the unit and upon signing of a lease “agreement”, disappeared with his deposit. The alleged scammer’s picture (and that of her car’s registration plate) were included in his social media post.
The victim went on to warn others to be vigilant and not to fall for the same scam. He also reached out for information on the alleged scammer and promised a portion of the RM5k money – if recovered – as reward.
The poster expressed sympathy to the victim who was looking to rent a family home for having to part with his hard-earned money.
It was claimed that everything looked legit with the victim seeing the ad for the unit in the Property Guru website.
He was given two sets of keys and had even checked with the police that there were no issues related to the unit.
The post has already generated 1.1M views at the time of writing with many netizens feeling sorry for the victim.
One netizen claimed this modus operandi was nothing new with similar cases having been rampant since 2018. He asked just what the authorities were doing to curb such nefarious practices.
One commenter who claimed to be a fraud agent attested that he was seeing more such cases involving the same modus operandi.
A step-by-step tactic of the AirBnB scam was outlined by one netizen (quoting another victim), a reflection of the growing number of incidences.
Quite a few also claimed they, too, were similarly scammed. Multiple police reports were to no avail, lamented one victim.
One was shocked at the brazenness of the alleged scammer who seemed unperturbed that her photo may go viral.
Just why people would resort to cheating others of their hard-earned money was a question that was asked repeatedly.
A few netizens counselled that it was imperative that the monies be transferred to a legit agency rather than a personal account. Due diligence was a must if one wanted to avoid such scams.
Tell-tale signs to look out for included units that were all too neat and tidy, hinting at professional cleaning services. And of course, if the deal was too good to be true.
One netizen urged owners of AirBnB units to display a plaque to ensure their units are not used for such scams.
This post and the many comments highlight this problem is increasingly rampant. Potential tenants are urged to be vigilant lest they, too, find unscrupulous individuals absconding with their cash. – April 28, 2025
Main image credit: AirBnB
