Do Hosts actually fall for this?

[Letti0]

So I had on inquiry on HA, I  questioned the guest on his guest count of 2. I've had groups of 4 and 5 a few times, but never 2 in a place as big as mine. He waited 3 days to respond. It's a scam I am sure and with my no refund policy there he picked the wrong home if he's going to ask for a refund and then give me a bad check which I believe is his plan. It's for a week in November. I am curious if other hosts agree with me or have gotten inquiries like this one. On HA you are still allowed to have payment direct to you. HA collects their fee's and you are paid off site, so I guess I can see some poor host there falling for this. As a Preimer Partner you are given phone numbers and emails etc. in advance and allowed to send your address or phone number in advance of a booking. Here was his reply to me. 

Thanks for your response, I have discuss with my wife and we both
interested in your property. I will be coming with my wife only and no pet.
We will like to make the full payment now, so I will be sending a check for
the full payment.

Kindly get back to me with mailing information and your cell phone number
to enable us mail the payment to you on time via USPS to deliver to you
next day.

Thanks and I will be waiting to read from you

My reply last night: XXXXX we are setup for payments through HomeAway only. You can use a credit card or PayPal or an eCheck. 

No response... Not that I really expected one ;D I do actually have the ability to do all 3 of those options on my own, but I am not going to with a HA/VRBO booking. Also did any other hosts get the message from Yapstone that they will now be charging a 3% service fee on eChecks now. They use to be free and I recommended that option to pay to save me the 3%. Oh well...

[Alexandra316]

@Letti0 People are still falling for the Nigerian scam, so I think it's safe to say that there are people falling for this also. They hit enough people, and eventually, someone takes the bait. It's amazing, but no matter how many times people are warned, they still fall for the same basic old scams.

[Holly142]

Yes, I've gotten a few of these from HA over the past couple of months, the response, which comes days later, reads identical  to the response you got.  There is a way you can go into your inbox and mark their inquiries as spam. Make sure to open the days up in your calender.

[Emilia42]

@Letti0 - what is the end game for this spammer?

[Letti0]

@Emilia42  They cancel within a few days of you receiving the check and depositing it and request a full refund asap usually via cashiers check overnight as they did or a wire transfer. It'll take the bank a while to tell you it's not a good check (usually a cashier's check) and debit your account in around 2 weeks. So by the time you figure it out your money is gone. 

[Fred13]

Their first paragraph sounded good, their 2nd ok, but the third > "Thanks and I will be waiting to read from you" < gave the game away. 

[Rebecca181]

Seen this same one on Homeaway / VRBO. Reported it. Amazing to think some people might actually fall for this!

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Letti0 - Report this to the Federal Government too: 

https://www.usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds

[Letti0]

@Alice-and-Jeff0  He responded again lol. I called HA to report him and they think he just does not want to use the HA Guarantee and he's harmless to accept him as I have an annual subscription he can opt out of HA payments. He actually has a Chicago exchange on his phone number. As a Preimer Partner I see phone numbers if entered into the reservation request or profile on requests and inquires. He did not have one listed. This was his last reply. Shhhh if I could block him I would, but HA does not give that option, nor does AirBnB as of about two weeks ago they removed it which stinks IMHO.

Good morning and thanks for the response, I feel more secure paying by
check, if you would like to proceed, please get back to me with the
information to mail out the check, you can also text the information to
mail out the check to my number below

 312 and XXX lastly XXXX
Thanks and I will be waiting to read from you.

[Chris232]

@Letti0

Hi Letti

Many thanks for the heads up on this, I have just joined HA and Booking.com and was not aware of this scam.

Thank you