Discovering a spooky cam hidden in your Airbnb isn't an urban myth: It happens all the time. This couple in Texas and this Californian couple both found voyeur cams secreted away in smoke detectors. This other Cali couple discovered a whole hidden system of cameras throughout their cozy Airbnb.
And internationally, creep Airbnb cams have been discovered from Malaysia to Ireland . We've even seen some couples post fake stories about Airbnb toilet cams to get attention. You can stop this Airbnb horror story in its tracks — if you know what to look for.
Fortunately, our security experts have put together a list of quick tricks for finding these cams without letting paranoia ruin your vacay. All you need is a smartphone and a few minutes of time when you first arrive at your rental or hotel. A guest-friendly router may deserve a closer look.
1. Check out the local Wi-Fi network Most Airbnbs offer some kind of guest Wi-Fi. Log into it and hop into your settings to view the Wi-Fi network and see if you can find all the connected devices.
Use the provided login and on-board router passwords or app to look for a section about connected or attached devices. Or if these options aren't available, you can try out a third-party app like the Wireless Network Watcher . (Note for the techies, the arp -a command line won't work here, because it only displays your own computer's cache of connected device info, and the Airbnb owner probably didn't leave his laptop behind.
) Now look for any un.