Holidaymakers accuse Airbnb of not protecting them from scams

Defrauded British users claim the holiday rental website has washed its hands of them

Airbnb faces accusations that it is leaving its users vulnerable to fraud after previously unseen figures revealed that a growing number of people have fallen victim to scammers while trying to book a break via the British arm of the holiday rental website.

In the first nine months of this year the number of people in the UK who reported that they had been defrauded on the website was 687, or at least two a day, double that of the whole of 2014, according to Action Fraud. This was more than five times higher than two years ago. Last week the company, which now lists properties in more than 190 countries, opened its doors to more than 5,000 of its property hosts at its annual conference in Paris, where the chief executive, Brian Chesky, described Airbnb in his keynote speech as "misunderstood".