fake identity

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Kris30
Level 2
Vancouver, Canada

fake identity

i got a booking from some gentleman late evening who wanted the place right away for only himself & told me that his flight is delayed & his rep will pick up the keys .Subsequently i found that the person who booked the apartment never existed & someone used fake identity to make the booking as we found the sim card for the number he gave .They were doing drugs ,cigarettes,liquor & bringing girls as they left so many garments including filthy undergarments all over the place .On reporting to Airbnb they stopped my payment instead of taking any action and my place was left in bad condition.Next time i will be very careful before accepting any guest .

Airbnb should not encourage such activities as in our last strata meeting also many such newspaper cuttings were shown.

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but its weird for airbnb to stop payment of host if he/she complains

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Kris30
Level 2
Vancouver, Canada

i got a booking from some gentleman late evening who wanted the place right away for only himself & told me that his flight is delayed & his rep will pick up the keys .Subsequently i found that the person who booked the apartment never existed & someone used fake identity to make the booking as we found the sim card for the number he gave .They were doing drugs ,cigarettes,liquor & bringing girls as they left so many garments including filthy undergarments all over the place .On reporting to Airbnb they stopped my payment instead of taking any action and my place was left in bad condition.Next time i will be very careful before accepting any guest .

Airbnb should not encourage such activities as in our last strata meeting also many such newspaper cuttings were shown.

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

I am going to assume most people would not have accepted such a booking, and certainly ABB does not encourage such behaviour.

David
Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Kris30

Late night bookings for the same night work for commercial places like hotels because they have a large fleet of personnel and security. It sounds like a good idea to be so flexible as hosts But it's incredible how scammers, crooks, robbers, and unsavory deplorables have been making a sport out of finding and using the cracks in the Airbnb system, esp. with independent listings where the host is absentee and thus has no oversight.

Something to take into consideration and possibly re-think your same night policy.

Quite a few stories on the Community forums too.

but why airbnbhas stopped my payment & also verified the fake id of guest

& it happened arlier alsothat someone booked the place for 1 verified person & then after the person checked in he brought in many other guests ( who must be blacklisted by airbnb earlier)& also left the place in a very dirty condition with booze,cigareettes,syringes & spoiled linen (beyond repair)Ihave no smoking ,no pets policy

& it wasnt late night but ate evening around 7pm

pets wouldn't make that much mess!

@Kris30

See below what Verified ID means to Airbnb.

The Verified ID badge

When you complete Verified ID, you'll earn a badge on your profile. Many hosts and guests look for this badge when deciding whether to host or stay with someone—BUT IT'S NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OR GUARENTEE OF SOMEONE'S IDENTITY (my caps)

 

Verified ID  has misled many a host and given them a false sense of security.  But, if you really think about it, you cannot verify that an ID belongs to the person who is using it on their account unless they are physically present. And even then it is not 100% guarentee as these things can be faked, not easily,  but they can.

Best is, reviews, verified ID,  telephone number, email, a conversation with the guest, etc. and rely on your gut!   If in doubt don't accept.

i thought airbnb has a system to check id's as these days there are lot of technological advancements

Ha!   The verification only gives you a false sense of security.  I wouldn't put any value on it.   You can set up your listing to only accept bookings with 2 days notice, etc.   As you've found out, last minute bookings can be problematic. Now you have to decide whether changing your acceptance style is financially feasible.  Only you can judge this.   If you decide to stop taking same day bookings, you'll likely lose some business, but you'll gain a bit of sanity.    

 

I use Instant Book so I take a risk, but I also have three day minimums, more than a pimp or a john wants to book.  They only want a one night booking (unless it's a hooker setting up shop)

 

 

Good luck to you, it sucks to have this happen.

but its weird for airbnb to stop payment of host if he/she complains

R0
Level 3
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I think if airbnb uses the word verified it means it was verfied.

 

airbnb other wise should use a word photo id uploaded but not verified.

Airbnb needs to have a way to build a trust community, so if a persons identity is not verified then it cannot misguide the host to believe that the photo id is verified. 

We are living in times where terrorist activities are happening around the world airbnb need to protect hosts. Many hosts are elderly people trying to make a living how can we put someones life in danger. 

Airbnb needs to think of a way to verify identity, facebook has lot of fake accounts so you cannot use facebook to verify. Unless you are reading facebook name and verifying it against the name on the photo ID uploaded.

Dev4
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

@Kris30

Sorry to hear about your situtation. Lately, I have had 5 cases where people have booked the unit (instant booking) and after investigation, it turned out that the original account holders' details were compromised and someone else was using it. The first time, it happened, the guest did not have a propert ID. So I did not release the keys. The fight got ugly to the point that I threatened to call the Police if they did not leave. Since then I am very sceptical when there is a last minute booking and I exert extra caution to investigate about the guests, speak to them over phone or meet in person. 

 

We have guests who admit to using FAKE photo, brought in a female friend instead of a male friend, and cannot see any of our messages or even accept the last day's refund - because they cannot login, apparently because they hacked someone else's account. They also turned out to be from a different country to what was in their profile. They wanted to bring in two more unidentified and unregistered people  to stay here, but won't even say what their names are. 

All that is despite being verified. 

How do I report these people to Airbnb???