The hosts of new postings have been asking to be contacted outside of AirBnB

[Vanessa-And-Michael0]

I've been having issues finding a property near Covent Garden, London UK.

The past three properties I've looked at have been 'New' with no review. When I contact the hosts, they ask for me to continue the converstation on an alternate email that they provide. They alwasy look something like this: bookings@airbnb.top or contact@bnbbooking.top

Is this normal for hosts to do this? I've contacted some, without giving any personal information, and they end up being a real estate agent team.

I want to know if this is unusual activity, or if it's safe to book.

Thanks!

[Victoria57]

@Vanessa-And-Michael0, you must have nothing to do with listings like this where you are asked to contact the host outside of Airbnb. They are all scams and you will lose your money as they will also most likely ask you to make a bank transfer outside of the Airbnb system. Any contact or payment outside of the Airbnb system leaves you with no protection at all from Airbnb or your bank. The booking won't exist. Don't even enter into correspondence. You should report each of these listings using the button on the listing itself.

[Vanessa-And-Michael0]

Thanks, Victoria. We will steer clear of those postings. It's surprising how many make it through in the first place. I'll report them as you suggested.

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

It would also be helpful to "flag" these listings to bring them to the attention of Airbnb.  If you look on the lisiting there should be a little flag icon that says "Report this Listing."  Do this so Airbnb can hopefully take down these listings and stop the scammers.