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A B.C. woman says she will never use Airbnb She said she discovered a hidden camera in the apartment she booked through the vacation rental platform.
“I feel sick. I can’t believe someone would actually do this,” Zorina Melis told Consumer Affairs.
Melis said she rented an apartment in Santa Monica through Airbnb for six weeks in April.
Melis discovered a hidden camera during the last few days of his stay.
“I unplugged the carbon monoxide detector that we had with us and noticed the smoke alarm was plugged in. There was also a USB cord next to it, which I thought was really weird,” Mellis said.
Mellis said there was a hidden camera inside the smoke alarm, which was located in the living area of the apartment she rented. “I found the exact same camera on Amazon, and it was described as a nanny cam,” Mellis said.
Melis said she downloaded a special app that locates devices connected to a Wi-Fi network and found more unknown devices.
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She said she immediately left the house and checked into a hotel. Melis said she reported the discovery to Airbnb and filed a report with Santa Monica police.
The police report states that Melis found two cameras inside the Airbnb, one disguised as a smoke detector and another located in a closet, pointed at the door. However, the door did not have any openings, so the cameras could not have captured anyone in the bedroom.
At the time, Airbnb investigated her case and issued a partial refund to Melis, saying in an email: “We have thoroughly reviewed your account and cannot confirm that your account did not comply with our Community Standards or Terms of Service.”
“They didn’t apologize. They didn’t even offer a full refund. They didn’t seem to be taking this seriously,” Mellis said.
Melis, the consumer affairs representative, contacted Airbnb and asked her for the remainder of her refund.
Airbnb said: “Our policy is clear – Airbnb prohibits the use of all indoor cameras and issues are extremely rare. We have removed this host from the platform and will continue to provide support to this guest, including a full refund.”
Consumer Affairs learned that the host forgot to remove the personal safety device from the common area before check-in. When Consumer Affairs reached out to the Airbnb host for answers, the host did not want to share the information publicly, and Global News would not agree to a “non-public” request.
When it comes to detecting undisclosed recording devices, there are apps and devices that can scan Wi-Fi networks to detect hidden devices, but this doesn’t provide accurate information, said Michael Jagger, a security expert at Provident Security.
“You can use a Wi-Fi scanner to see all the devices on a Wi-Fi network, but only if there’s only one Wi-Fi network,” Jagger said.
Jagger recommends physically scanning the room for anything suspicious. “Hidden cameras are often placed in devices that look like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, or things like phone chargers and plug-in devices,” Jagger says.
“There are hundreds of devices intended to be sold as nanny cams or health cams that look like speakers, stuffed animals, alarm clocks or anything else. When you walk into the room, scan it from top to bottom,” Jagger said.
Melis said that while she was happy to receive a full refund, she would not use Airbnb again and would look for other options.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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