I can't be the only one who thinks these types of things are sketchy... possibly dangerous. (Craigslist killer(s) anyone?) Of course I'm not... so I wonder what kind of screening process goes on to prevent harmful intruders.

I googled a few combinations of the following keywords "airbnb couchsurfing safety precautions screening" (etc.) with no specifics. It looks like airbnb leaves safety entirely up to the participants.

I'm guessing the majority is based on ratings... so you end up with a bit of the chicken and egg scenario... so at first it would seem everyone's gotta take a bit of a risk.