Hello @Heidi125,
A lot of my guests are new. I remember being very happy when my first guest, a young woman, was trusting enough to stay in my place when it was new and had no reviews by guests.
There's no way for hosts to see the ID that someone has uploaded to Airbnb. As hosts, all we can do is take a little comfort from the fact that the person was willing to upload it. Most guests probably believe that the host can see it so I take it as a good point when I see that they've uploaded ID.
I don't have instant book and regularly take guests who have no reviews. Almost all have given a little story about their travels and why they want to stay with me. If they don't, I ask before pre-approving or accepting them. So I judge from their initial message and, if needed, from having a message exchange with them.
One type of inquiry or request that I never accept is a third party booking i.e. where the booking is made by someone who won't be staying. It's against Airbnb's terms so they may not support you if there's a problem.
Steve.
