A family thought they’d rented a Philly home on Airbnb. But the owner never made the listing.

Christmas night came to a peculiar end for Fitler Square resident Molly Flaherty. She returned home from spending time with her family to find Nicole Brunet, who was with family of her own, trying to get in. Brunet had used Airbnb to rent the home for her parents who were visiting for the holidays — a surprise to Flaherty because she never listed the property.

After Flaherty convinced the group she wasn’t trying to scam them — the lockbox was for a pet sitter, not for renters — she spent a week trying to get Airbnb to remove the fraudulent listing. But Flaherty gained little traction until New Year’s weekend when the posting was taken down after The Inquirer reached out to the company about its protocols for such incidents. In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Airbnb said that fake listings are rare and that it “provided support to the guests at the time to help make things right, including a full refund.”

The company did not elaborate on how it investigates such incidents but said it tries to update those involved when it can. In Flaherty’s case, an Airbnb spokesperson said the company had deactivated the listing, though Flaherty said the company never followed up to tell her.

“I still worry because they haven’t confirmed anything with me,” said Flaherty on Tuesday. “I don’t know if this [listing] is going to pop back up or if there’s still people that have future reservations and think they have a reservation in my home.”

Over the years, scammers have found ways to work the system. In Philadelphia, three renters thought they were leasing an apartment in 2020 only to learn the space was actually an Airbnb rental. And last year, a California family learned someone had used open house photos to list their newly purchased home on the rental site. In Flaherty’s case, it appears her property was legitimately listed on the site until 2020, when she bought the home. The initial lister’s account was somehow revived in what the company calls an “account takeover.”

In the California case, the listing stayed up for weeks until reporters reached out for comment.

Screenshots provided by Flaherty show days of messaging between the homeowner and Airbnb support. Flaherty was told a member of a “specialized team” would follow up with her, which they eventually did, asking Flaherty to write her complaint in a letter that would be shared with the listing’s “host.”

Concerned the fraudster would have even more information about her, Flaherty kept the letter brief and signed only with her initials. Airbnb’s response reiterated that the company doesn’t “own, manage or control accommodations” and can’t arbitrate these disputes or private contract terms. The company told her the simplest way to address complaints is to communicate with the host directly, but the company reassured her it did reach out to remind the account holder of their “obligations as an Airbnb host.”

Flaherty doubted the scammer would admit to wrongdoing and the company’s handling of the situation left her in despair and in search of a lawyer who might be able to help. She worried Airbnb wouldn’t do anything.

She left a handwritten note on her front door warning potential Airbnb renters that the $140-a-night listing was fraudulent and that her home is not in fact available to them — a note that she’s keeping up in case others arrive.

Nicole Brunet, the woman who thought she’d rented Flaherty’s home for the holidays, said she’d similarly hoped the company would be more responsive to concerns, especially because it appears the listing was at one point an actual rental.

“There really was no way to tell” the listing was fake, said Brunet, noting it had more than 100 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5. “It looked just like any other listing, which is kind of the most scary part about it. I’m just like, well, I can’t trust anything.”

Previous renters lauded the location, showering the host with positive reviews through 2020.

Brunet is slated to get her money back but she said the incident left a bad taste in her mouth. She put her family in a hotel for the holidays.

“It just seems like their safety mechanisms really aren’t foolproof,” she said.