air bnb guest ordered credit card in his name but airbnb's address

[lamettarules]

Talking to a friend today ,she has a friend X who does air bnb .

Chap staying for a week ,chap said he was expecting delivery of card .
X opened post by mistake ,card is in guest's name but paperwork has her address .

This sounds dodgy doesn't it ? Or am I over reacting .I think X should ring card issuer .

Yes. Because any debt will be linked to her address.

Dodgy. Friend should contact credit card company ASAP with proof that it is her property and that he was just an Airbnb guest.

Of COURSE it's dodgy. Clever but dodgy.

It’s nit only dusty, it’s Fraud!

Wow, too quick to post - it’s not only dodgy, it’s fraud! Sorry about typos

I don't know, if you aren't going to be at your home address how then do you get hold of your card? I would phone the bank and suggest that someone who doesn't live there has a card in your address and see what they say. They won't usually discuss a card which isn't in your name so be cautious in how you phrase it.

Return it to the credit card company saying not known at this address

I know of someone who did this. He was an estate agent for rented properties and would get cards sent to empty addresses then go and pick them up. Before doing that he used to use relatives’ addresses and convince them it was ok. He fled the country but there’s a warrant out for his arrest.

I would contact the police because you can be assured this won’t be the first time he’s done this. The police need to search his property, I expect they will find numerous fraudulent cards there.

Thanks all - you've confirmed my view . And I agree with Lizzie that this won't be the first time .

The situation worries me as I believe the chap is stiil there ,and who knows what else he might be dodgy about .

Beanteam - I hadn't thought about the issuer not speaking to a third party but it's a good point .Regarding collecting a card while not at home ..surely you could collect it from a bank ?

What seems odd to me is the timing - surely it takes more than a few days to get a new credit card ,how could you manage to get a card sent somewhere that is only your address for such a short time ?

It could just be a replacement card rather than a new account though. Wouldn’t he need bank statements and utility bills also registered to the same address?

He will have booked the B&B and will have applied for the card a week before his visit, hoping it arrives when he’s staying there.

Sent to that address doesn’t mean registered at that address. Presumably it would be no use to him at home?

Debt is attached to a person not a house so as long as she proves that he doesn't live there and they are not financially linked then she will not be affected

However, I’m not convinced a bank would send to a different address. I don’t think he could use her address as he won’t be on the electoral roll.

It's tricky being a friend of a friend so I don't have all the details .

I suppose it's possible it's all innocent - replacement card sent c/o address .Though I'm inclined towards superram's view - surely cards aren't sent out like that ?

But the guest has spent previous weeks at different air bnbs in neighouring locations ,which isn't,AFAIK, a usual profile of an air bnber .

I had a card fail to arrive at home and was worried my post was being fiddled with so Capital One sent the card to my work address at my request - so it is possible.

I think it's very dodgy though.

I also think they should report all this to Airbnb so that they can warn other users.

Yes ,it's been reported to Airbnb , no response yet .But apparently they can be a bit slow with host queries/concerns .

I don't think you can get replacement cards sent elsewhere any more because fraud rules are so much tighter. Don't you have to either get them at you registered address or collect from branch with ID. Even if they won't discuss specifics, surely a quick calm to the bank concerned would confirm if they would ever do this.

*call not calm