Spam WhatsApp using personal data from a forthcoming booking !

[Val21]

Hi,  just a heads up to everyone that I’ve just received a WhatsApp message from someone urging me to click the link to verify my forthcoming booking or it will be cancelled. Luckily I have already been in direct contact with the owner and having already paid in full was confident it was a scam, however it raises two worrying things for me:

1. Several recent bookings I’ve made imply it’s a personal owner I’ll be dealing with, but it’s actually agencies, sometimes two different agencies who bomb me with generic and irrelevant messages, often outside of the AirBnB App, which makes it harder to know when it’s a real query on a booking.

2. MUCH more worrying, how did this scammer get my personal contact info and full details of my forthcoming booking; dates, property name etc??Our bank details are also in the AirBnB system 😣.

I can only think that this must have come from the AirBnB system.  Yes I have contacted AirBnB but the lady I spoke to at Superhost Support really didn’t seem that bothered. I’ve changed my password and would suggest anyone else concerned does the same and watches out for any similar direct messages.

[Wendy-May0]

This is a serious issue, and you've handled it correctly. That type of WhatsApp message, with your precise booking details, is extremely worrying.

1. The Agency Communication Problem

You are right, this is a mess. Many hosts use professional property managers or agencies that rely on their own external systems for check-in guides or payment requests. This often means they push communication outside the app, making it incredibly difficult to tell a legitimate message from a scam, like the one you received.

2. How the Scammer Got Your Data

This is the central issue, and it is a major concern. There are three likely ways the scammer got your personal phone number, booking dates, and property name:

• Agency System Breach (Most Likely): If the listing is managed by an agency, your full personal and booking details (phone number, dates, property address, name) are held in their third-party management software. If that external system gets hacked, or if one of their employees' computers has malware, your data can be leaked.

• Host Account Compromise: Less likely, but possible, is that the individual host's account was compromised, and the data was pulled there.

What you must do now:

Changing your password was essential. Next, you need to file a formal report with Airbnb's Trust and Safety Team, not general Superhost Support. This is a potential data security incident that needs to be escalated internally. You need a reference number proving you have reported the platform as the possible source of a data leak.

I recommend running a deep scan on any device you used to access the booking or open any links, just to be safe. Feel free to message me if you need any more advice..

[Val21]

Thank you for coming back to me on this and I have indeed contacted the third party agency about this and reported to their security team, plus asking them to remove all my data from their system.

The use of AirBnB by agencies is a growing issue, for example I had no idea it was an agency that I was booking this accommodation through and more importantly, I did not give them permission to store my data in their systems. 

I use AirBnB both as a seller host and a guest, as I trust the security of the company and believe I am dealing with owners directly. However this is increasingly not the case. I have a booking for Christmas and only once I’d made the booking did I receive (multiple) mail from the agency, both generic and personalised to my booking. The former was asking me to log into their Ap to manage my booking while the latter mail gave me contact details for the landlord if I had any questions specifically on the property, which I did. However when I contacted the ‘landlord’ it turned out that they were another agency. So two different agencies were storing and using my personal information regarding this booking, when I made the booking with AirBnB.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this and any updates on what AirBnB may be doing to resolve this.