Weird spam inquiry within hours

[Erin5795]

Hi, we just published our property and were excited to get an inquiry for a wedding. The initial contact seemed okay, but their response got very weird. Is this some sort of bot or scam? I don’t understand the angle.

This is the response we received:

> That would be awesome. Does the property have open spaces for a lg tent and also trees for photo ops. Maybe share with me, I have seven children, six daughters and 3 sons. I would love someday to buy four or three chickens and eight ducks. I would also like to add thirty three chicks and forty nine ducklings.

[Emiel1]

@Erin5795 

I suggest to report the message or the profile to Airbnb by using the "report" or "flag" link.

The report menu has an option "spam".

[Anonymous]

@Erin5795   Wow, can I just say, your listing looks amazing.

What Airbnb calls an Inquiry is generated by clicking the Contact Host button instead of starting the reservation process. It's not always spam, but it's usually not going to convert to a booking. Guests who are seriously interested will click the Reserve button and enter their payment details, and the notification you get from Airbnb will call it a Reservation Request (or a confirmed booking, if you're using Instant Book).

The spam message you got was hilarious, but I have no idea what the angle is.

[Katrina314]

The guests are trying to pass their phone number to you (all the numbers mentioned in the message, in consecutive order) without it getting flagged by the system. 

They're attempting to make direct contact with you (albeit in a convoluted manner!), almost certainly in the hopes of making an offsite deal, in order to avoid Airbnb service charges. 

[Sarah977]

@Erin5795  Be aware that an Inquiry message only requires a response, you shouldn't click on decline for an inquiry, as declines count against you. ( Requests do need to be either accepted or declined within 24 hrs unless you can get a guest to withdraw it if it is inappropriate).

I would simply send a message back saying "I don't deal off- platform" and click on the report button next  to the message, then check the appropriate box.

Also, you should go back and edit the description part of your listing, filling out all the available fields, like "The Space", "Guest Access", "Other things to note". Your description is quite incomplete and short on information.

You are going to have to be vigilant when vetting guests, as your place looks like a party magnet and has a high guest count, and scammers and partiers often target new listings, assuming the host is naive.