Enquiry was weird, pre-approved than did not accept, than new message... FAKE?

[Klaudija2]

Hello to all, 

I received yesterday an enquiry, but I was asked to add amenities and house rules, but I already had them - at least the Airbnb offered amenities and house-rules, so I stil pre-approved, but the pre-approval expired. Now I got a new message, saying: "Hi, I am still very interested but I am having difficulties booking your place. Can cou check your calendar is up to date? I have contacted you on this listing on: airbnbn.com/.Link-->https://bit.ly/2JCdOvO and this link seems to be dangerous , not secure!!! 

I contacted Airbnb on the phone, they called me back and after 15 minutes of "please I will put you on hold as I have to recheck on this question" from an Airbnb employee on this phone helpdesk, and they simply did not know. but after 15 minutes said that this BRIAN is not completely verified.. 

I suppose this is a fake, and Brian is fake too, but.....

1. how can unverified guests or potential guest enquire at all?

2.  how comes that I do not see those messages in the inbox online but only on the phone and I receive SMS messages when Brian contacts me... but no message from him on airbnb on the laptop, only in the app on the phone?

3. how often does this happen, fake inquiries?

thank you all, 

K.

[Linda108]

Anyone can inquire, @Klaudija2 so don't pre-approve unless you want them as a guest.  Guests that are looking for a deal, for blocked dates, for more amenities, will set up a profile with minimal information and verification and then send out lots of inquiries.  Some of these potential guests turn out to be wonderful newbies and can be educated about the platform and your listing.  Some are basically a pain.  I respond to these inquiries with strategic questions that help me assess whether I want to host them or not.  Seldom pre-approve unless I get the type of response and willingness to work with me that I want.

[Ixy0]

Hi!  Can you give some examples of questions you pose and responses that you look for to determine if it is a legitimate guest inquiry please?  Thanks!

[Fred13]

Besides what @Linda108 said, Pre-Approval oftentimes lead to a dilemma; you aproved one and then someone sends a ~request~ for the exact dates and if accepted, then the host has to explain to the 'dissapointed' pre-approved ~inquirer~ what happened. 

[David126]

The link you posted is NOT to AirBnB, presumably looking to harvest your account details.

Verified means very little, would not be hard to fake enough to pass AirBnB verification anyway.

Probably varies, and sometimes you will not know, most of mine are outside of AirBnB but like this one they are easy to spot.