Am I Being Scammed

[Vickie9]

Please Help! I am new to Airbnb, however I am not new to renting out my vacation homes. I received a message from one of my guests that has booked my home in December. My home is in the US, she and her family are traveling from Sweden. She has sent me a message asking me for my first middle and last name how it reads in my passport as well as my family members names. She stated that she has to have this information to obtain her visa.  I have hosted individuals from different countries before and have Never been asked to provide any more information about myself other than what is on the listing. Can someone please tell me if this has ever happen d to them before? Thanks in advance

[David126]

The usual method for a Swede to visit the US is the VWP, no visa required.

Assuming they do need a B visa it would be something you obtain before booking accomodation and flights etc and does not require the information you have been asked for.

US Consulates specifically state not to make such arrangements, no guarantee a visa will be issued.

[Vickie9]

Thank you David 

This is what I sent her; My name is here on my listing. I have hosted many families from outside the US at my home and never once have been asked for any information pertaining to my family. I am confused by your request.

This is what she wrote back; I will go to the US embassy here in Stockholm to help me with our visas, I have tried to use 3 different websites tonight to do the request, the all are asking for our adress when arriving in the US, and the contact person of that address, and it is just a never ending story with questions... page after page. It has always been quite tiresome to enter the US for non US citizen, but now it seems even worse then ever. But don't worry, I will have it done, we already have flight and both our places paid for so there is no turning back ☺️

I guess I will wait and see what happens.

thanks again

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

The most I have ever come across for a tourist visa is a name and address of where you will be staying. So that is not really unusual. However, certainly nothing about your family, etc. 

[Vickie9]

Thank you Gerry maybe it's not a scam and she really needs my name and address. I am now wondering could family name be what I call my last name?

[Sandra126]

@Vickie9, Family name = last name. She does not want the names of your family, she wants to know more than ''Vickie''.

[Ange2]

@Sandra126   Good call!  You could be right "family name" is what most non-english speakers use for what english speakers call the  surname.

[Vickie9]

Thank you for all of the information : )

[Ange2]

@Vickie9   If she has booked Airbnb would have sent her your name and address. Looks like a scam.

[Vickie9]

Thank you. I did not know that. I'm finding Airbnb to be the most difficult booking platform I've ever used 😭

Thanks again

[CarlandDiane0]

@Vickie9,

Hi there. I concur with the previous reply. If you received a confirmation of the booking from Airbnb, then that guest should have all the vitals she needs, including your first and last (or "family" name) and your address.

Perhaps you can refer her to that information (ie, "Airbnb should have provided you with my full name and address once your booking was confirmed"). Information beyond that apparently is unnecessary and honestly, since it seems you rent this place frequently, I'm not sure it's worth the risk of a potentially skeevy situation.

Best as I can tell, Airbnb only opens you to fraud if you are asked by the guest to do something unusual or off the books, such as accept payment directly rather than the guest going through Airbnb, or provide more information than Airbnb has already provided. I'd politely say that you're not comfortable providing any more details than you already have. While this whole situation may be legit, I do smell something rotten in Stockholm. Feels like providing this info could lead to another twist in the story later on as the reservation date approaches and the guest suddenly has additional problems.

Believe me, all Airbnb bookings are not like this. Ours go smoothly, though almost all of our guests are domestic.

Good luck!

Carl and Diane