Investors in Airbnb Arbitrage Business Allege They Were Defrauded

A company called Hands-Free Automation (HFA) has been accused of improperly relisting properties on Airbnb at higher prices after taking listings from hotel and short-term rental sites, according to a lawsuit filed in February. HFA founder Anthony Agyeman allegedly promised investors returns in 3-6 months for $20,000-30,000 investments in owning stakes in Airbnb listings. However, Airbnb prohibits the practice, and HFA has not been authorized by property owners, CNBC reported this week. The Federal Trade Commission has accused similar companies previously of making false promises of profits. Airbnb said it was unaware of contact from regulators regarding HFA.

Promising an ROI level

[hdyoung]

Means youve stumbled into a scam, 100 percent of the time

Re:

[Njovich]

What about government bonds?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny you mention that...

Re:

[hdyoung]

Good point. The bonds of wealthy stable, democratic countries are about as close to 100% reliable as it can get. Not perfect, but damn close. I was referring to companies, investment firms and cryptobro outfits.

Re:

[UnknowingFool]

He probably means high ROI. Getting a measly few percent on a bond is nothing new. Promised ROI of 20% should be a red flag.

Re:

[Darinbob]

Return on investment versus interest payments. These are often considered different things, though they may sound similar. Return on investment often means you're buying stocks, securities, metals, or other items one hopes goes up in value. This investment items are never granted a pre-determined payment per month/year or a guaranteed cash-in price based upon a fixed schedule. Where as the government bonds are saying "you lend us money for a period of time and we will pay you the principle plus interest,

Re:

[juancn]

They can usually print money to pay back, so it's a kind of scam if things really go bad.

Re:

[entranced]

They didn't promise an ROI level.

A fool and his money are soon parted

[kid_wonder]

fta

In total, Carr paid HFA $19,497

Carr told CNBC that his investment with HFA disappeared, leaving him in debt and working a customer service job to make ends meet.

correction should be he borrowed 20k to invest which is the stupidest financial thing anyone could ever do, regardless of the investment. Unless you're a real estate mogul, I guess.

Guy's a shyster from day one

[quonset]

If you check out his name he has a series of online companies and "teaches" people how to become successful. He was even featured as a "disruptor" [disruptmagazine.com].

If you listen (i.e. read) to what he says, he speaks the bullshit very well. He even gave a TED talk [einnews.com].

Is anyone surprised this guy stole these people's money?

Bleh

[Asgard]

> "5-year exclusivity contracts" with thousands of property owners that gave it permission to relist their properties at a higher price.
If they had that kind of contract wouldn't it just be 'listing', not 're-listing'?

> Getting involved with Hands-Free Automation, or HFA, required a payment of between $20,000 and $30,000 to effectively own a piece of Airbnb listings.

That is a huge chunk of change to gain no actual ownership in the underlying asset. 30k would be closer to REIT territory, not 'buy in so