Featured Image Credit: CityNews/Jas Grewal
Topics: World News, Weird, Travel
Tom Wood
A family got the fright of their life after they discovered a hidden camera in their Airbnb property.
So, the family were staying in a rented place in Brampton, Canada, when they discovered the hidden recording device in an area where someone was sleeping.
Creepy, right?
Jas Grewal, who was staying in the Airbnb with his three cousins, told CityNews: “We don’t know what happened with the footage, we don’t know what they heard, we don’t know if they recorded anything… we just don’t know.
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“It came to my cousin’s attention.
“We were trying to plug our laptop into the TV and we were looking for an HDMI cable, and when he went to look for the HDMI cable, he saw there was a cabinet with a little hole… a peep hole.
"And when he looked closer, the cabinet was locked so you couldn’t actually access the cabinet.
“There was like a camera behind it that was locked.
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“That’s when we figured out that there was a hidden camera in our living space.
“The mattress was right in front of it.”
It’s pretty terrifying.
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What’s more, Grewal said his female cousin had been sleeping on that same mattress during their stay.
Also, when they messaged the Airbnb host to ask for more time to get sorted and leave the property, they responded: “Hello Jay, you definitely need more time.”
If that doesn’t make you feel like you’re being watched, nothing will.
On the Airbnb website, it reads: “Security measures like security cameras and noise monitoring devices are allowed, as long as they are clearly disclosed in the listing description and don’t infringe on another person’s privacy.
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“Rules about devices apply to all cameras, recording devices, smart devices, and monitoring devices.”
However, Grewal says they knew nothing about any devices.
“If somebody had told us, ‘hey listen there’s a camera here,’ if it’s well visible or if somebody had told us it’s there, it’s a whole different story,” he said.
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In a statement, Airbnb told CityNews: “Airbnb has a clear policy when it comes to the use of security cameras in homes that must be adhered to by all Hosts.
“We take guest privacy seriously and our dedicated Safety team is thoroughly investigating.
“A full refund has been given to the guests and the listing has been deactivated pending the investigation.”
Grewal concluded: “It’s not about the money. At this point, we don’t know what kind of footage, pictures, audio, might be sitting with somebody we don’t even know.”
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Yeah, that’s definitely not a good feeling.
Now, he says that whilst he used to use Airbnb all the time, he’ll start staying in hotels because he believes they are safer.