Airbnb deploys 13,000 agents to help fight World Cup scams

Travel scams targeting World Cup accommodations is a legitimate concern, and Airbnb is not waiting for guests to get burned before acting.

The booking platform has partnered with the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) to educate travelers booking FIFA World Cup 2026 stays, according to an announcement published this week.

Airbnb has already deployed more than 13,000 specially trained support agents on around-the-clock duty for the duration of the tournament, and its reservation screening technology is now active across all of North America, blocking what it calls “potentially higher-risk bookings” before they can be confirmed.

“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is one of the biggest sporting moments in a generation, and we’re excited to play a meaningful role in connecting fans with unique places to stay across 16 host cities in North America,” said Roger Kaiser, Vice President of Fraud and Safety Operations at Airbnb.

“We’ve spent months preparing—expanding our support capacity, deepening law enforcement partnerships, and equipping our community with the resources they need—so that guests, hosts, and the neighborhoods welcoming the world all have a great experience.”

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To help combat the issue, “We hold onto guest payments for stays until 24 hours after check-in, so there’s time on arrival to check things are as described, and we include Aircover for guests with every booking to help in the rare event of an eligible issue during a stay,” Airbnb said in a release.

“Our anti-fraud technology assesses listings before they go live for risk signals. In 2025 alone, this helped to prevent around 265,000 potentially suspicious listings from appearing on Airbnb,” the company continued, adding, “We also take down third-party phishing websites that attempt to impersonate Airbnb, making it harder for scammers to try to mislead travelers online.”

Forty-two percent of Americans have fallen victim to a booking scame

The threat is a valid concern.

New research indicates that 42 percent of Americans have already fallen victim to an online scam, losing nearly $2,000 on average.

About two-thirds of Americans say AI is making scams harder to detect, with deal-hunters and Gen Z appearing most likely to fall for an AI scam.

Generative AI can now produce polished fake listings, convincing photos, and fabricated reviews at scale, which is why Airbnb’s platform protections are under more pressure than ever heading into the biggest event in its history.