Beware the "Let's split the payment" scam

[Rich-and-Yan0]

Hi fellow hosts,

My wife and I are still relatively new hosts, just passing the 6-month mark about a week ago, but we have been following the hosting forums for much longer.

We have heard of various scams and scam attempts on Airbnb over the past few years, but this morning we were approached with what appears to be a new one--or at least, it was new to us. 

Basically, we got an email request for a long-term booking from this coming Tuesday, which seemed odd to us. Why, after all, would someone planning a long trip write on such short notice? The writer also claimed to be going on a business trip, which was another peculiarity. Our home is in the Algarve in southern Portugal, which is known for its climate, beaches and golfing--but not as a place people go on business trips. Even if they did, then we feel sure that they would have planned their trip more than three days in advance.

And then there was the language. Though the telephone number he secretly embedded in his mail was for an U.S. address in the state of New Jersey, his English (e.g. "Greetings. I am Alexander" and "But there is one moment that I would like to share with you") didn't sound like that of any American I've ever met.

Now here comes the really dodgy part: the writer claimed that he wasn't actually going to stay at our place, as he had a friend's house to stay at in Portugal but was getting paid by his company for accommodation costs. So, he said that if we were willing to accept his booking, then we could split the payment between us.

I'll post what he wrote at the end of this letter, but I'm sure that many of you are seeing "flags" already. Certainly we were.

So, I sent it on to a lawyer friend of mine who specialises in fraud, and she said that she has seen this recently and that it is a new variation on an old type of scam. Here's how it works. First, since it's low season and you don't have anyone booked, then you figure that it is a good deal for you and agree. Next, the person confirms the booking. After that, the guest asks you to transfer him half of the money for the booking. And then once the transfer to him is made--you guessed it--the guest cancels, and you are screwed. 

So that's it. And again, some of you hosts may have seen something like this before. But as I said, it was new to us, and so we thought that we should share it so that other hosts can be aware of it if it happens to them. 

The message he sent is pasted below. We would love to hear your thoughts. (Oh, and if anyone knows how we can report this to Airbnb, then please let us know.)

Rich & Yan

Greetings! I am Alexander. Soon I'm having a business trip to Portugal. I was looking through Airbnb to find some apartments there and would like to book your apartment. But there is one moment that I would like to share with you. I have a plan to stay at my friend's home once I'm there and not to check into your apartment at all. Here's my proporsal. Book your apartment, never move into it and just share the rental fee my employer is going to pay as a part of my business trip expenses. You can just have some money for doing nothing. If you are interested, please get back to me soon. Text me in whattsap. This is my numbra pluus oonnnee ssevven thrre ttwwwo thhrree ssiixx zzeroo siixx niinee ninne ffiifee. Waiting for an answer.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Enrique728 Yes, even if English is not your first language, it's great that you were still able to realise that there was something not right about this supposed booking attempt.

The line that deserves the most attention here, in my opinion, is, "1f you aree interested to earrn some easy m0ney..." If this ever works on some desperate people, then that is where they are going to hook them. You have no bookings now, which means you have no earnings, and so I am going to offer you "easy money." 

I'm glad that you didn't fall for it, and I sure hope that no other hosts do, either. But keep spreading the word to everyone you know: the scammers are out there, and when people are struggling economically, then these scammers are going to be working extra hard to take advantage of the situation.

Thanks for posting. Stay vigilant, and stay healthy. 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Enrique728  I think the funniest part of those scam messages is "There's notthing for you tto worryy aboutt."  :-))

[Sarah977]

I've not gotten one of these scam inquiries, but if I did, I'd message back "So, XX, when you were a child and adults asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, was your answer- 'I want to be an online scammer trying to bilk innocent people out of their hard-earned money?'"

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Sarah977 Ha! Exactly. It's hard to believe that someone could have a career goal like this, lol. But, as we all know from experience, when it comes to money, some people can be greedy, evil jerks. These kinds of people are in every country, in every race, in every culture. So, we all just have to stay alert and be sure to let others around us know that they have to keep their guard up--because the scammers will not stop with their attempts to scam innocent people. It is all they know.

Take care, and stay safe. 🙂

[Fred13]

They probably come from the same computer, having the same keyboard repeating-key malfunction, probably due to the culprit spilling a drink all over it. What a rookie.

[Sarah977]

@Fred13  Lives in his mom's basement, who is under the impression that he's taking online university courses :-))

[Fred13]

LoL..

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Fred13 I agree. Hopefully no one is so desperate and naive that they actually fall for this.

[Marco65]

@Rich-and-Yan0 They just wrote me, these people have a lot to do if they have tourist plans in Hong Kong, Italy and who knows where else! Thanks for sharing the experience and giving us a heads up!

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Marco65 Ha! Yeah, I know, eh? They sure do make a lot of travel plans at a time when the rest of the world isn't able to travel, lol.

Thanks as well for the dose of morning humour. We can all use it right now. Stay well.

[Pilar1]

It would help if AirBnB actually bothered to follow up and took down the profiles of those that have been reported, maybe they’d tire of having to create new ones and at lest slow them down. I just checked and the guy that targeted me back in January is still up there. @Stephanie, could someone look into this please?

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Pilar1 If you noticed my replies above, I had the same complaint. The request from the guy who tried this with us in February is still in my inbox under a "Not Possible" response. That means his account is still active. I did report this to Airbnb and they did send me that standard "Thank you for notifying us" reply, but then nothing seems to have come of it. Mind you, I do understand that they have other things on their plate now, but this was back in February, before the world was in such a state of crisis. So yes, it would be great if they would follow up on these things, because it is a serious matter. 

[Sharon1227]

Alex who was the first scam attempt at the beginning of this thread messaged me today with a similar message to his original and with a number in black circles. I have declined and reported to airbnb and suggested they should have been able to block this effort.

[Marco65]

@Rich-and-Yan0 @Pilar1 In truth I tell you that I refused this businessman's request indicating as a reason that I did not feel comfortable with the message received, I wrote that it was definitely a scam and the day after the request both the message and the profile had disappeared from my administration page. Sometimes Airbnb does something, the bare minimum, but it does. 

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Marco65 That's good to know. Maybe I should have followed up my attempt to flag the guest with an email to Airbnb. They get criticised for a lot of things, but in my experience, Airbnb generally do follow up with hosts' email requests for the most part. I've had one or two support staff who haven't been as good as others, but 80% of my experience writing to them has yielded responses from people who genuinely seemed like they wanted to help, and in most cases did. So I'll keep that in mind if I ever encounter anything like this again. Cheers.