That's essentially what I was thinking even when reading the article. Get a good credit card company that's on your side (Amex has been best for me, Discover too), and let them deal with it. They absolutely will not screw around with stuff like this.

This can work, but beware that the company may send the charge to collections. It's a slimy thing to do, but we are talking about a company that's built its success on evading all manner of legal responsibility. (And outright law-breaking by many of its hosts.)

That doesn't work well b/c then Airbnb just bans you from the platform

Why would you wait to submit a police report?

If there's fraud occurring then a police report should be filed.

I’d immediately call Amex and tell them it was an unauthorized charge, then file a police report, and maybe go to small claims court.