Potential Scam **

[Lisa7403]

We are new to Airbnb. Since we opened up a few months ago we have had three requests ** requesting to rent our entire Inn for several months. The guests are new to Airbnb, no review and no photos. The first one was flagged by Airbnb as a scam and the person was removed from the platform. The second one I tried to engage in dialogue and they never responded and now the third person is asking for videos of the Inn. This person just joined Airbnb this month and has no reviews. A bit of background - our very first guest came ** and stayed at our Inn for one night (we are in rural NH), and they trashed the place. Vomited on the bedding, the walls, ruined the dining table and left the house wide open - doors and windows- with the heat on. We did get some reimbursement, but you can imagine why I am skeptical of people who don't engage in conversations or have previous reviews. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone else is fielding request ** for longer stays. 

**[Generalizing Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Emiel1]

Maybe read this recent post also:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Welcome-guests/Accepting-new-travelers/td-p/1714307

Always ask such guests a lot of questions. I myself do accept guests for "long term stay" only when showing very good communication upfront , having some good reviews and their ID verified

[Sudsrung0]

@Lisa7403 

The scammers target new host, from time to time we also get people wanting to do business off the platform, You should never do you have no cover.

As far as I know Chinese are not allowed to leave the country we used to get many Chinese here in Phuket none this year. 

We also dont do one night stays having 2 or 3 nights minimum cuts out a lot of problems, Phuket is a party island,

In our experience people dont use airbnb for long term stays, You can also set the maximum days you accept, mine I have it set to 30 days maybe it cuts out them inquiries.

[Huma0]

@Lisa7403 

People DO use Airbnb for long term stays. It depends where you are and what you are offering. I currently have a Chinese girl staying with me for a very long stay and she is not the first. But, I am renting out individual rooms and wanting to rent an entire inn for months seems a bit odd.

The thing is not whether it's a long term stay or the person is Chinese. It's about looking out for red flags, which it does sound like you are doing already. Some of the common ones are:

1. Wanting to do a viewing/requesting a video/additional photos with no reason 

2. Wanting to communicate or pay off platform

3. Lack of information, i.e. no proper message of introduction with details about the people staying, purpose of stay etc. and no valid questions that people would ask prior to a long term stay.

I had an enquiry the other day, which consisted only of a request to do a viewing. I explained why that was not possible. Then the person asked me to send them photos of the room, which is extremely odd as there are several photos of the room on the listing, including the main photo. I told them to look at the listing. The next thing they are asking to book for two people when the room is clearly advertised as just for one. I have no idea if it was a scam or this person was just stupid, but I politely told them to go away.

[Tim3996]

I've had this one happen a few times. It always seems fishy, but I can't tell if the etiquette is a Western vs Chinese thing...

3. Lack of information, i.e. no proper message of introduction with details about the people staying, purpose of stay etc. and no valid questions that people would ask prior to a long term stay.

In addition, no pictures on the profile, no history, no reviews, etc. --Tim 

[Claire2339]

I thought I got these scammers because I speak Chinese, but I guess it’s indifferent targeting. 
All these scammers, no matter how the conversation starts and proceeds, always ending up with asking for your phone number/facebook/whatapp/instagram…. Then same old trick there-pig slaughter scam. 

[Danielle26]

Had one tonight. We're in rural Maine, and we're old-timers on Airbnb, over 10 years. We've also nearly fallen for one type of scam a few years ago, so we're cautious. 

Someone who just joined Airbnb this month and has no reviews contacted us asking if they could rent for a year. Yes, they asked for video, said they've heard that sometimes people post photos that aren't real on their listings. They're Chinese (the first message went through the ABB auto-translater), said they live in LA, and were not very forthcoming about their reason for wanting to stay for a year, just "I need to get away from my work, it's stressing me." They have a long, sweet-sounding ABB profile essay about loving to travel and make friends and see beautiful places. The profile also says they're into making money in investment, which, if this is a scammer, is likely calculated to make hosts think they can make good money on a longterm discounted rental.

The person kind of snuck me a phone number in the messaging, and an Airbnb bot asked me if I wanted to terminate the conversation. I stayed with it to see where it was going, and they offered me a good $1000/mo more than I would have quoted them. I ended up saying a polite goodbye. 

[Gillian166]

@Lisa7403  your instincts are good, these are scams. they target new hosts. 

usually I don't get to see where guests are from, or anything beyond a first name (which sometimes changes, or is just a letter). ABB keeps on limiting our ability to vett guests, and lately I am not keen on taking any 0* newbies unless they have a good conversation with me first. 

[José-Luis89]

I had the same experience just today. A guest wanted to make a reservation of my cabin for 15 days, which is odd for a rural place like this.

There was no proper name, just a letter "r" and no picture. The message was originally in Chinese but his phone number was from the UK.

Airbnb removed the user after a couple of hours .

[Yulieth3]

I got a request  for. 2 months and willing to pay with a lump sum 

they wanted to pay 3 days before the stay

when I mentioned that I needed the full amount and non refundable and that I live next to the house and keep full surveillance on it the answered

ohh

so I rather to keep it vacant than with a bad tenant  

[Greenfield1]

  

 Feeling like it’s a scam as well. 

[Shirley657]

Sound like the same Wang as the one I got. It’s definitely a scam. I reported it. 

[Danette15]

I am not new to Airbnb, but I just had one of those potential scams (not the first time). I agree with what’s been said on here and I did not communicate with them on WhatsApp since it was a bit fishy that they could not answer my question about why they need videos of my place when they’re on Airbnb. I don’t think it matters the place from what I’ve read on here. I’m in mid Florida close to the beaches and not directly in a tourist area. I think they just want our information. I’ve seen people try to message me on WhatsApp so it’s just another scam artist. If they don’t book, they’re not for real.

[Helena623]

Same thing just happened to me, they requested videos of the apartment and wanted to rent for several months. No pictures, and recently joined Airbnb, no reviews or other trips. What is this scam? How do people get scammed like this?

[Sheila262]

Thank you for posting this. I got a similar request just as you described. The person wanted to know many more details about my home and my neighborhood. I just got the gut feeling. I called airbnd and they recommended I deny the request. I then looked on this help board and found your message. It confirmed that I did the right thing!! I just an Airbnb pop up that told me to be careful with this person. The lesson- Always follow your gut!!