Airbnb Super Scammer Allegedly Made $7M Listing Fake Properties, Running Bait-and-Switch Schemes: Indictment

Mar. 15, 2025

Close-up shot of a key to a vacation rental.Photo:Getty

Getty

An arrest warrant has been issued for Shray Goel, a former vacation rental host accused of defrauding thousands of customers

Some of his listings were legitimate, others were completely fake, per the indictment. Some properties were allegedly listed under “addresses that had no residential structure, were unaffiliated with the co-schemers, or did not exist at all."

Goel and others working under him allegedly accepted over 10,000 reservations in 2018 and 2019 and brought in $7 million.

A host handing over the keys to a vacation rental.PhotoAlto/Getty

In other cases, he allegedly offered an alternative property for the overbooked guests to stay in that he claimed was of equal quality. Per the indictment, here were also instances in which he simply stopped responding to the double-booked guests just before check-in, leaving them with no accommodations.

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He also used fake guest accounts to leave misleading positive reviews, according to the indictment.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Airbnb said, “Airbnb is built on trust, and bad actors have no place in our community. We supported the US Attorney’s Office and the FBI throughout their investigation to help ensure accountability, and we are thankful to them for their work.”

“We have taken multiple steps to strengthen our defenses against deceptive behavior, including measures like identity and listing verification which we believe will help further deter already rare instances of this type of activity,” they continued.

Goel did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. A phone number listed on his professionalwebsiteis no longer in service.

source: people.com