Airbnb blocks the possibility of" charity " booking of housing in Ukraine due to fraud cases

The International Housing search platform AirBnB blocks the possibility of booking housing in Ukrainian cities in order to help Ukrainians in the war against Russia. The reason for this decision is fraudulent cases and the mass creation of new ads on the platform in order to earn money from charity, Wired reports.

Now foreigners have booked more than 434 thousand nights in Kiev, Odessa and Lviv to show solidarity with Ukrainians. According to Airbnb, these orders raised more than.15 million in aid. Moreover, the company, which usually takes about 20% of each booking, refused its commissions in Ukraine.

However, in a hurry to provide money to Ukrainians from abroad, some "tenants" were canceled without much explanation.

It is noted that after the booking of donations began to arrive, some owners created "ghosts" for apartments in Ukraine that did not exist. In some cases, they may not live in Ukraine at all. This is contrary to Airbnb's policy on fake accounts, even if they were intended for fundraising purposes.

In mid-March, Airbnb completely blocked the ability of new hosts to create ads in Ukraine to minimize fraud, which also prevents real Ukrainians from receiving funds through the platform.

The company also said that it" carefully evaluates " all listing activities in Ukraine and takes measures to detect fraud.

In addition to donations directly to Ukrainian Airbnb hosts, people can also make donations to Airbnb.org, which pledged to provide free short-term housing for 100 thousand refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Earlier, Airbnb temporarily stopped all operations in Russia and Belarus due to the war in Ukraine.

Airbnb also launched an initiative airbnb.org/help-ukraine for those who want to support Ukrainians. Here you can offer accommodation for free or at a discount and by donating funds. All the money raised will be used to provide people with temporary housing.