Third-party bookings nightmare

[Helen2404]

I get many third-party booking requests. I ask Aibnb for help and they say this is not allowed as the guest is then not ID’ed or verified. Good I want to protect my family and other guests but then what I ask do I do about the booking request. 
i have been told to let it expire, to decline it or to ask the guest to withdraw their request. The first two options mean I fet penalised by Airbnb with warning emails saying my response time is slow or that my listings will not be promoted if I’m declining bookings. I am told my calendar will be or is frozen.
The third option to ask the guest to withdraw has been ignored and I have been told its my problem. 

And this is based on trust, then saying who they are or who is coming to stay - I had a booking a while ago from Anya who wanted to come in a yoga course near me. I said politely that I was sorry I could not take the booking. It was odd right away because my listings were then closed. I thought it odd but didn’t anticipate what happened next. 
Later I happened to be looking through my archive of messages and it turned out that “Anya” was in fact (same initials) a hairy face middle aged man called Alex from Bournemouth with a rental in Morocco! 
I told Airbnb. They said “sorry for the inconvenience”. They have done nothing about it. 
What would I do if Alex instead of Anya had turned up at my home? 

Airbnb have given me no support. 

What you do to protect yourself? 

I think I should start to say I need to see passport ID on arrival to weed out the problem? 

I have asked in another post how to make a formal complaint to Airbnb as I have been trying to for a week. . 

[Sarah977]

@Fred13  Respectfully, I'd have to disagree. I have a budget-priced private room listing and get consistently lovely guests. There are more factors at play than price.

[Elaine701]

@Sarah977 @Fred13 @Helen2404 

I'd sort of half agree with both views. 

Price is just one factor. If it's too cheap, it's inevitable that you'll be attracting a type of guest that's seeking cheapness over quality. And generally speaking, these guests tend to be more problematic. 

But there's other factors, such as making it clear what you're offering, so that if it's not what they're really looking for, they won't be disappointed. And of course, making sure they understand the "rules of engagement", so to speak. 

Still, price is an important factor. Airbnb, for all it's faults, is an extremely productive booking machine. In our case, it's a foregone conclusion that Airbnb will book up almost any available dates. It's actually a problem in some ways, as we've been trying to reduce or eliminate our dependence on Airbnb because of the inherent risks of using the platform, but they keep us booked, so other platforms don't stand a chance. It's challenging to successfully spin up a listing on another platform for that reason alone. 

So, you can keep your prices up, it certainly slows down the inquiries, but if your prices are still attractive, even if a bit high, and you keep your ratings up, the bookings will come, eventually.

Also, people tend to book the cheaper competition first, but as soon as they're all booked up, you become more and more attractive. At any reasonable price. Just try to stay a bit higher priced than others in your class of accommodation. The bookings will come. 

Yes, nowadays, you have to be really careful of who's booking, regardless of how much they pay, but in our experience, the ones who pay the least tend to be the most problematic. We have far fewer problems (or the need to decline) those who pay top rates. 

Again, price is just one factor, and it's to a large degree, dependent on other factors. So you have to pay close attention to your ratings, and what's going on around you. 

[Fred13]

Sure @Sarah977  there is also sanity, the clientele you draw from are genuine travelers through Mexico; not some local lowlifes looking to find a cheap place to trash or have a party in.

[Helen2404]

UPDATE:
Thanks everyone here and those who got in touch. Its been horrible but I am happy to say that I am off the Airbnb platform now. Listings deactivated. It feels great.
I may have to get back on in future I suppose if our finances get desperate but be assured I will be using Airbnb very differently then and with huge caution.
Now I feel a little conflicted about whether to write to the Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, brian.chesky@airbnb.com (thank you UK Citizens Advice). Honestly I don’t think it will make an ounce of difference and I am a bit sick of doing the right thing and being ignored or abused for it. Ironically I feel a little guilty for not helping more to protect other hosts. I am well aware that the truth always comes out everytime time but I worry that Airbnb’s truth will be forced out when someone like me comes to harm directly because of their neglect and lack of a formal complaints procedure in the UK. (Or any country as far as I have discovered from miserable fellow Airbnb hosts.)
At least tonight I have peace of mind for my little family.