Same day reservations from suspicious accounts

[Anthony608]

So, this is a bit hard to explain but I will try.  Where I live in the Washington DC area, sometimes I will receive requests for same day reservations (called “Advanced notice” reservations) where the person will be a relatively new (or brand new) AirBNB account living in the local area, with an address listed in Washington DC or Maryland – essentially the same area that I live.  These local accounts will then send *frantic* messages about needing a room right away.  They will also typically only request one night.

Now, I have talked to some other local hosts about this and we think one of two things is going on.  Either homeless people or drug users trying to find a one night place to crash and do illegal things, or part of a larger scam where people who live locally are trying to “scope out” Airbnb properties to either copy keys or steal items. 

My place is popular, so I rarely have openings on the same day and, most times, if there are such gaps between reservations, I try to block off the days in order to take a host break.  However, in this current age with the health crisis cancellations, my rooms are open widely now to same day reservations.  Has anyone experienced this type of scam before and has any advice?

[Sarah977]

@Anthony608  Why don't you set your booking setting to require 2 or 3 days advance notice? 

[Anthony608]

@Sarah977- I actually have that setting on for one day's notice, but the system allows people to send special requests to book on the same day which I then have to approve.  I lot of these are shady, coming from brand new accounts in the local area, which is the problem.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Anthony608 

Just checking that you know you can turn off the 'allow requests from short term bookings' then the problem should go away. We have ours switched on but are not suffering the same problems as you. I am not sure if refusing all the requests you are getting will affect your Superhost rating - If it does then you should definitely switch off this function.

[Anthony608]

@Mike-And-Jane0- It doesn't appear that denying Advanced Notice bookings affects my rating in any way.  They are not formal cancellations, since I do have the settings as bookings must be one day in advance.  The same day bookings are requested and can be declined without penalty.

[Anthony608]

@Mike-And-Jane0@Sarah977 - Returning to this post to share the exact thing happened again.  I do not allow same day reservations except with pre-approval and I often ask the guests some questions about the reasons why.  Today was a brand new account, from the local area, full of questions about the house.  I answered all of them, but then they wanted to know the exact street address before booking.  When I gave a general location instead, citing AirBNB policy, they ceased all contact and haven't book the room yet.  At 1PM, it was an emergency and they need it right away, but once they realized they couldn't see the address without paying, nothing and its now after 4PM.  I wonder what is really going on with these types of requests?

[Sarah977]

@Anthony608  You answered your own question in your original post here. They want to scope the place out to throw a party, to steal from, or some other nefarious purpose. I'm not sure what you mean by not allowing same-day bookings without pre-approval. Is this just something you say in your listing, or do you have an advance notice setting on your account?

[Anonymous]

@Anthony608  A 2 or 3-night minimum stay weeds out most of these. 

Unrelated question, though:  you appear to have multiple room rentals in a shared house. How is it that you're able to do this both legally and safely under social-distancing orders?

[Anthony608]

@Anonymous- We havent had really had any cases where both rooms have been occupied at the same time during this pandemic.  There was one night when this happened, but the guests never went near each other.  As far as legally?  There are no ordinances here in Maryland about prohibiting people from coming in your homes, just guidelines put out by the state of Maryland.  A few counties over, they did pass such ordinances, prohibiting house guests, but it hasn't happened where I live.