Can a host get scammed?

[Evgeniya27]

I received an inquiry from a guest if my apartment is available for 4 months ( nightly rental price stays). Then he asked me to send pictures of the surroundings on his personal phone…

Im wondering, if there is some type of scam going on and if there is a risk, in general, of getting scammed by the guest? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Evgeniya27 A few potential risks

1) If the pictures identify the apartment location  then thieves might target the property when the calendar shows it to be empty

2) A stay over 30 days may cause the guest to become a tenant. You need to check Missouri laws on this.

3) They will try to book a stay off platform thus exposing you to increased risk

Alternatively the guest just wants to check out the neighbourhood before committing to a long term rental.

[Evgeniya27]

Thank you @Mike-And-Jane0! 

The guest also divided his mobile number in 3 parts and sent it to me in 3 different messages.. it looks like some sort of scam to me, considering the total price of the booking..

Anyways, I declined the inquiry, as I don’t feel comfortable with this booking.

[Craig767]

A brief note about sending the phone # in 3 parts.  Until a booking is confirmed,  AirBB will not share your phone number and will not let you share your phone number or contact information.  Sending it in 3 parts was a work around to contact you outside the app. If you respond, they will have your phone number as well which could be used for further identification of you and your property.  

[Helen3]

They are trying to get you to communicate off platform.

it's a common scam to try and negotiate a lower price.

flag the message with airbnb  @Evgeniya27 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Evgeniya27 Just one point - If you get a booking request you have to accept or decline it within 24 hrs. If it is a booking inquiry you only need to respond in 24 hrs. You can say that you don't wish to host this guest  without declining. I say this because if you decline too many requests then your listing may get suspended - I think the same applies to inquiries but I am not sure.

[Evgeniya27]

Thank you for the tip @Mike-And-Jane0 !
From what I understood when I was making a research on that, your listing is not affected anyhow if you decline the inquiry..

Requests - yes, you can not decline too many.

[Huma0]

@Evgeniya27 

I don't know if that is true or not, but there is no need to decline an enquiry, so best just not to do it.

If you want to stop the guest from contacting you again, you can block them. You have to select the 'they are being offensive' option to do that. You can also report them. Or, you can just tell them no, and then ignore further messages.

With these types (and I have had a few enquiries like the one you describe), I just tell them no, and they usually go away. If they persist, I block them. I have never needed to decline an enquiry.