Alarming Guest Interaction/Potentially Dangerous Situation?

[Lauren2956]

We're new to hosting by just a few months. Everything has been relatively well, except for a recent interaction we had with an upcoming guest. This guest had reached out to us with various questions that made them seem new to Airbnb, which isn't a problem. This evening we got a similar message asking several questions except in the opening line they said, "Hi Lauren (my name) or Jane (my mothers' name)." Has this happened to anyone else? Is this a scam? 

We contacted Airbnb and the situation is being handled, but the fact that they knew my mothers' name is wildly unnerving, especially since she has no ties to our listing. 

[Brian2036]

I don’t like it much.

 People can easily find out far too much information about anyone by using one of those online spy agencies such as truthfinder.com.

They sift through public records and social media and put it all out there for anyone to see.

Apparently this person wants you to know that he has investigated you. It’s creepy. But maybe he thinks it’s cute.

[Laura2592]

@Lauren2956early in hosting we had a guest who locked himself out (with a keypad...) We went to open the door and he told us that he had researched us and was guessing at information about our net worth and financial health. It was creepy. He was also really rude and talked down to us like we were children. Not one we wanted to host again. (I have since watched his reviews and other hosts have had similar experiences from the look of things.)

I would just ask this guest "Hi, just wondering where you got the name (mother's name) My name is Lauren and I will be your host during your stay. Wanted to make sure you had the right listing! Sometimes guests get confused when they look at lots of places. We don't have anyone named X affiliated with this space."

See what they say. At the very least you will make it clear who they will be dealing with. If I were super creeped out I would ask ABB to cancel or do it myself.

[Lauren2956]

Thank you for this! Knowing that guests will potentially research us has been very off putting, but it seems that this has happened to others which makes it feel less intense. 

We have had Airbnb cancel the reservation, but should this happen again I will certainly use your wording to address the situation. 

[Laura2592]

@Lauren2956its icky for sure.

We have an Instagram for our cottage and will advertise when we have open dates from cancellations. But I have had to learn to be really careful with the info I share.  People will come back and mention things or dig in and research and it always takes me aback. Most of it is totally harmless but it is uncomfortable.

[Brian2036]

@Lauren2956 @Laura2592 

By putting our listings on Airbnb’s website we are all sacrificing a degree of privacy.

This is something that gave me pause because, as you might guess from my listing, I generally prefer to be anonymous in my personal life.

 I don’t subscribe to Facebook or anything like that because I really don’t need to let everyone in the world know what I had for dinner last night, where I am, or when I am going somewhere else.

We recently had an alarming incident when someone looked me up on one of those spy websites and started calling my relatives and friends and fishing for information.

They knew enough personal information to make it seem plausible when they claimed to be officers of the local court, police officials, attorneys, concerned friends, etc.

They squeezed even more information out of some of my relatives who are probably not as paranoid as they should be.

Their telephone number changed with every call they made.

Anyway, I think that this sort of this is going to become ever more common until it is considered to be due diligence to investigate everyone you meet.

For a small monthly fee you can have unlimited use of these websites and do a background check on anyone you want.

It might be wise for hosts to use it for prospective guests…but to me that would be akin to rifling their luggage or peering into their underwear.

UGH.