Naive Swedes are unwittingly renting out their homes to pimps and hookers, who have ditched hotels in favor of Airbnb, police said.
It’s estimated that some 200 apartments are now being used by prostitutes every day in the Swedish capital.
“Second-hand apartments are now the largest market for prostitution in Stockholm,” Stockholm police investigator Simon Häggström told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
More and more, pimps are creating fake profiles of couples seeking short-term apartment rentals.
“People are naive. They should think of some more about who they rent out to second hand,” Häggström asid.
Prostitutes and their clients acknowledge the shift to Airbnb.
“I would say it might be a result of the police’s big push to train hotel staff – so that’s out as an option,” said Pye Jakobsson, a spokeswoman for Rose Alliance Sweden, which campaigns for the rights of sex workers.
Jakobsson told The Local that renting Airbnb is often the best option for many working gals who don’t want to risk hookups at a stranger’s place or bring business into their homes.
“You don’t want to work from home as that means risking to lose your apartment and outcalls (working at a stranger’s home) some feel are riskier than incalls,” she said.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for issues like these,” according to the spokesman. “Over 70 million guests have stayed on Airbnb and issues for hosts and guests are incredibly rare. When we are made aware of issues, we work fast to help take care of hosts and guests and permanently remove bad actors from our community.”