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Beware of rise in short-term vacation rental scams
Don’t fall for these scammers’ sneaky tricks out to ruin your travel plans.
A Texas couple is alleging that their Airbnb host’s brother placed hidden cameras in his Maryland home, which they rented for two days in August 2022.
A lawsuit filed earlier this month against the owner, Christopher Goisse – a psychiatric nurse practitioner – states that there were “multiple hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors… in the bathroom and bedroom at their Silver Spring Airbnb rental,” where they were “intimate” together during their stay.
Kaylee Gates and Christian Capraro, who are engaged, contacted police in August 2022 after they noticed that the apparent smoke detectors in the Airbnb bedroom and bathroom had camera lenses.
“After getting settled, Plaintiffs decided to take a shower in the shared bathroom, and were intimate while in the shared bathroom. Plaintiffs then returned to the Jefferson room, where they laid down on the bed, put a movie on and began to relax,” the complaint states. “…Mr. Capraro, who installs smoke detectors professionally, noticed that it was odd that there was a smoke detector in the middle of the ceiling and another one in the corner of the room.”
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Kaylee Gates and Christian Capraro, who are engaged, contacted police in August 2022 after they noticed that the apparent smoke detectors in the Airbnb bedroom and bathroom had camera lenses. (FOX 5 DC)
Gates and Capraro stood on the bed to “examine the ‘smoke detector’” and “they noticed a camera lens,” at which point Gates apparently “began to hyperventilate and experience shock.” They allegedly found another camera disguised as a smoke detector in the bathroom.
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“I definitely have had many cry sessions about it,” Gates told FOX 5 D.C. “Like, I can feel my heart start beating really heavy and fluttery whenever I start thinking about a situation. Whenever I start thinking about the situation – I get a little shaky even talking about it.”
She added that she feels “embarrassment, humiliation, disgrace and loss of dignity” when she thinks about the cameras.
“Any time that a person’s privacy is invaded it can be a traumatic experience,” Daniel Whitney, Jr., a partner at Whitney, LLP in Towson, Maryland, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “When the invasion of privacy is done through a hidden camera that records private moments, the victim’s life is never the same, and the knowledge that they were secretly recorded becomes a life long burden. There are many legal rights available to victims of hidden cameras, but no amount of money can restore privacy that was violated. Once a hidden camera records private moments, the genie is out of the bottle.”
Kaylee Gates told FOX 5 DC that she feels “embarrassment, humiliation, disgrace and loss of dignity” when she thinks about the cameras. (FOX 5 DC)
The couple went outside to get some fresh air after their discovery. When they decided to reenter the rental to get their belongings, Capraro apparently removed the camera from the bedroom and attempted to remove the camera in the bathroom but was unable to do so.
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After leaving the rental, Gates and Capraro contacted police and Airbnb to report the alleged hidden cameras. The couple met up with a Montgomery County Police Department officer at a nearby Target store, and the officer escorted them back to the rental.
Upon returning, Goisse “came out of the Master Bedroom, asked what they were doing, and denied knowledge of any hidden cameras.”
After leaving the rental, Kaylee Gates and Christian Capraro contacted police and Airbnb to report the alleged hidden cameras. (FOX 5 DC)
“While MCPD was present at the Property, another individual walked up the driveway of the Property and explained he was staying in the basement via another Airbnb rental. MCPD then found another hidden camera smoke detector in the basement where this renter was staying. Christopher Goisse then gave consent for the Property to be searched,” the lawsuit states.
MCPD allegedly found and seized hidden cameras inside a safe at the property, located in the room occupied by Christoper Goisse’s twin brother, Larry Goisse. Larry Goisse lived with Christoper Goisse at his Airbnb property, according to the lawsuit.
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Christopher Goisse previously told Fox 5 in 2022 that he did not plant cameras in his Airbnb and suggested that one of his guests may have hidden them in his home. He also told the outlet that he gave police permission to search his home and confiscate his electronics.
Kaylee Gates and Christian Capraro allegedly found cameras disguised as smoke detectors in their Maryland Airbnb. (FOX 5 DC)
Airbnb’s guidelines state that owners “should not spy on other people” and cameras “are not allowed” in listings “unless they are previously disclosed and visible.” Cameras “are never permitted in private spaces like bathrooms and sleeping areas,” the company’s guidelines state.
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Gates and Capraro eventually searched the internet for hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors “and discovered the same model of hidden camera smoke detector that Mr. Capraro had pulled from the ceiling of” the Airbnb bedroom and “discovered it had Wi-Fi capability,” the lawsuit says.
“I think that what happened to our clients is the tip of the iceberg regarding hidden cameras in Airbnb’s and other short term rentals,” Whitney told Fox News Digital. “There is an element of trust and duty between every short-term rental guest and the host that a safe and private space will be provided in exchange for the guest’s payment. When a host violates that trust and duty, and fails to provide a safe and private space, the host can be held legally responsible for the guest’s injuries and damages.”
Larry Goisse “is currently incarcerated after pleading guilty on Oct. 4, 2022, to federal charges of drug diversion and health care fraud,” the lawsuit states, but he has not been charged in the Airbnb hidden camera incident. The Pittsburgh Union Progress reported in March that federal prosecutors would not be pursuing additional charges against Larry Goisse because he was already incarcerated.
Editor’s note: This article previously stated that Christopher Goisse is incarcerated. His brother, Larry Goisse, is incarcerated.
Updated Editor’s note: This article previously indicated that the lawsuit against Christopher Goisse accused Christopher Goisse of planting the hidden cameras in the property. The lawsuit accuses Larry Goisse of invading the plaintiffs’ privacy by placing hidden cameras in the property.
Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to [email protected] or on Twitter at @audpants.