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<\/p>\nFor years, Brina Braun has used her camera and extensive client closet to help women feel confident, sexy and empowered.<\/p>\n
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But now, the devastated Edmonton boudoir<\/a> photographer feels taken advantage of after her carefully curated lingerie collection was gutted by thieves who rented her Airbnb<\/a> using false identification.<\/p>\n \u201cI just sat here and I cried,\u201d Braun said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so violating \u2014 the work I do for women is to help them take their power back and I\u2019ve never felt so powerless in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n The Edmonton Police Service is investigating and says the thieves are allegedly now trying to sell the stolen goods to massage parlour workers all around the city.<\/p>\n Braun has spent years amassing a collection of lingerie in all sizes for her Bare By Brina<\/a> photography clients to wear during photoshoots. She stores the outfits in a bedroom-turned-closet inside her home that she also rents on Airbnb.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cMost of this stuff is new with tags. And it\u2019s all high-end lingerie from Honey Birdette, Thistle and Spire, like all these places,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lingerie from such brands can sell for hundreds of dollars a piece.<\/p>\n Braun travels for work a lot, so she rents out her home for short-term stays. She said she\u2019s been doing that for five years with no issues until now.<\/p>\n From Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, a woman rented the property with a profile that appeared to be verified by Airbnb. Afterwards, Braun, who was on an out-of-town photoshoot in B.C., got a devastating call from her cleaner.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was like, \u2018I am so sorry \u2014 something really bad happened here.’\u201d<\/p>\n The photographer was sent photos of her home torn apart, with items missing from many rooms: mirrors, pots and pans, cutlery, dishes, wine glasses, tools and more.<\/p>\n Her locked closet room had been broken into, and many of the items raided.<\/p>\n \t\tPrevious Image<\/p>\n \t\tNext Image<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tClose Modal Gallery<\/p>\n What should have been a typical $200 cleaning service came out to $1,600, which did not include damage that needed to be repaired.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n Braun flew home and inspected the damage and discovered that more than $35,000 of goods had been stolen, including much of her lingerie in small, medium and large sizes.<\/p>\n In the meantime, with her home ransacked, Braun said it was a fight to cancel her next Airbnb booking \u2014 alleging the company wanted to charge her a last-minute cancellation fee to do so.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to argue with them on that,\u201d Braun said. \u201cI can\u2019t just rebuy everything today \u2026 I have to cancel the next guests. I had to get it escalated to a case manager there because they said, \u2018No, this is our policy. You\u2019re cancelling on guests. You pay the $70.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018No. I don\u2019t have dishes! Still, to this day, I don\u2019t have dishes!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore on Crime Braun explained her own insurance would not cover the loss, but she wasn\u2019t initially worried.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you open up on Airbnb, your home insurance doesn\u2019t count because you\u2019re voluntarily letting strangers into your home. So that\u2019s where Airbnb coverage covers you, because they have their own insurance. So I felt safe that way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She called police and reported the crime to Airbnb, who she said initially seemed helpful.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said not to worry, you are covered for everything,\u201d Braun said of her interactions with Airbnb.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI submitted the report and that\u2019s when things changed.\u201d<\/p>\n The company stopped replying to her after that, she alleges. Then, after allegedly not hearing back from police, the photographer posted about what happened on her social media, including sharing the Airbnb client\u2019s photo.<\/p>\n People who saw the post began digging.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial media did the detective work. Found her, called her mom \u2026 and the girl messaged me and said, \u2018Someone is using my ID \u2014 that\u2019s not me.’\u201d<\/p>\n Edmonton police determined the guest who reserved the booking was found to have used fraudulent identification in her Airbnb profile.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n Braun then got word that someone saw her lingerie being sold at massage parlours around Edmonton, which police were able to verify.<\/p>\n Last week, Airbnb finally contacted Braun and said it would not cover the full cost of the loss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can only approve reimbursement for items that are physically damaged beyond repair or intentionally stained by the guest,\u201d the online rental company said in an email to Braun.<\/p>\n Then, the Edmonton woman told Airbnb that Global News was looking into her situation. The tone changed, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin four minutes of sending that email, a representative called me,\u201d Braun said, adding the woman who said she was from Airbnb\u2019s safety team apologized and shared a lot of eyes were working on her complaint.<\/p>\n While she\u2019s happy progress is made, she\u2019s angry it took calling the news to make it happen.<\/p>\n \n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tThe Canadians in Hamas: The operative, leader and financier\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/national.jpg\")
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