Phone number being used by a Host

[Jeanie13]

Hi,

I got a missed call late at night from an unknown number.

I called it the next day and they said they weren't going to stay at the Airbnb.

I am not an Airbnb host, why did I receive the call?

Doesn't all hosts need verified phone numbers?

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

@Jeanie13 The guest may have just dialed he wrong number, just ignore it unless it becomes a regular occurrence. 

[Jeanie13]

I've had another call all the way from United Kingdom. I am in New Zealand. People shouldn't have to pay for international calls to a wrong number.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Jeanie13

Wrong number errors happen all the time - it is easy to mix two numbers - some are even number dyslectic. I dialed the wrong number only yesterday - it happens to most of us from time to time.

[Jeanie13]

Could an account claiming to be host have entered my number? The first time someone called they actually went to the place and said that they found the accomodation inappropriate... The second time the call came from UK and I can't hear what they were trying to say.

The first thing I would like happen is for Airbnb check their host database for a host that has entered my phone number as contact. Then they should correct the information. Guests could be turning up to somewhere unsafe for them. This is serious.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Jeanie13

It is probably someone victim to a fraud by someone setting up a fake listing and that has picked a random phone number from the phone book as their contact number - a number that happens to be yours.  You could consider changing your number.

Fake listings are usually spotted fairly quickly, so unless it happens again, I would not worry too much.  They will set up another fake listing using another "fake" number next time.