Enquiries from people looking for "exact address" - possible spam?

[Nikita0]

Has anyone had issue lately receiving multiple enquiries from people looking for your "exact address"?

This started happening to me last week. The first message I thought was a bit odd, since you can see the general area on my listing. The woman wanted a google maps link to the exact location. I declined to send that, and just told her the major intersection. No response. Now, this has happened a few times. All similar situations - a person sends an inquiry for a large chunk of days. The profile looks legitimate, and has some verified info like Facebook and email but no verified ID or reviews. They ask for exact address or street my place is on, which I don't give them, then don't respond to my messages.

Are these real enquiries, or are they spam messages? Has anyone else had experiences like this?

[Inanna0]

I have had this happen from time to time. It could be a spammer, but I personally think that it is more likely that potential guests are trying to use Maps to see how far we are from where they will be visiting. They simply haven't thought about how potentially problematic it is for the host to give up their address on the Internet to strangers.

[Bob293]

People want the address because too often hosts portray something as residential and family friendly then you find out its on a main drag across from a 4am licensed bar.

[Marit-Anne0]

No, it is not a scam or a spam.  They only want to make the right decision based on street view, simply to make sure your place is what they are looking for and to eliminate any issues like location right above a noisy bar or something in those lines.  

Personally I provide pictures of the street close to the apartment and point out in the description the issues regarding noise, which are none whatsoever and confirmed in my reviews.  

There are quite a few "how to book an apartment" out there on the net and they always encourage many questions before commitment.  Among others, exact address so that you can see for yourself what you are getting.  A location in a noisy street or above a bar would not be highlighted in a listing as it is hardly a selling point.  Try to look at it from the guest's point of view.  They may be new to airbnb and would regard the site like any other booking site/booking engine on the net. Some do not even realize that many listings are rooms in private homes and that giving out the exact address could be a security issue.  

Personally, I host off-site, so for me it is less of an issue and I have given out the exact address.

[Nikita0]

Thanks for the response! 

I didn't think it was odd the first time, or even the second, but there have just been so many similar messages in a short time frame it's a bit odd. Especially since I've been hosting for over a year and usually if people are asking for more specific location details, they will ask other questions as well, not just "what's your address?" with no other context or further follow up questions (such as, is it on a busy street? etc.). I'm still a bit skeptical but good to have other perspectives. 

[Clare0 · Accepted solution]

@Nikita0, while I agree with @Marit-Anne0 and @Inanna0 that these guests may be  simply trying to understand exactly where you are located, I'd be a bit wary of giving out my exact address.  After all, there is a reason Airbnb doesn't publish this information:  security and privacy.  Just keep in mind that your calendar is available for the world to see and it's pretty obvious when you don't have guests.  For that reason I would be willing to spend however much time it took to answer guests questions to avoid giving out my address to a stranger. 

Just something to think about. 

[Inanna0]

Absolutely, Clare is right. Don't ever give out your exact address. You can tell them a close major intersection, train stop or landmark. That's all they need to know at that point to figure out the neighborhood.

[Nikita0]

Thanks @Clare0 and @Inanna0. I definitely never give out my exact address to these enquiries. 

That's what I think is so odd about these messages @Clare0 - it's not at all unusual to get messages from guests asking specific questions, such as "how far are you from the subway / downtown / airport / train station". I always answer those types of questions by referencing the subway station I am close to. But to get so many messages all in a row from different profiles asking only "what is your address" and then not responding when I give them a major intersection and ask questions about their trip is quite odd.

That being said, glad to hear that nobody else has had these experiences - makes it more likely it's just a coincedence rather than something more fishy!

[Clare0]

@Nikita0 I would think the opposite of a coincidence.  Matter of fact, it would raise my alert level.  While some guests do ask (but don't receive) for exact addresses the fact that you received multiple inquiries of this sort kinda strikes me that someone or persons are probing for this information.  Glad to hear you didn't give it. 

Just out of curiosity, I would click on these people's profile to see if they were from the same area.  Are they connected somehow? Also, do they have any reviews...are they previous Airbnb guests?  Do they have Verified ID?  If the answers to these questions don't give you a level of comfort...well...as I said, there's a reason Airbnb doesn't publish this info prior to a confirmed booking.  

It never hurts to be cautious!

[Nikita0]

@Clare0 Agreed, definitely being cautious. 

This is what I thought was so weird about it all - I host in Toronto, and all these people are from Toronto or suburbs (which wouldn't be weird on its own, I do have guests who live in the suburbs but are working downtown for longer periods sometimes), none of them have Verified ID's or previous reviews. It's a strange pattern. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Nikita0

If they are locals, it is definitely fishy and you should flag them.

[Maria-Lurdes0]

Or @Nikita0 give them the address "40 College St" which is the police headquarters 🙂

Ha, kidding, it would be redacted anyhow.

[Christine1]

Occasionally I get these kind of requests regarding exact location and viewing from locals. They are scoping accommodation for their relatives.  

Since I am local, they want to visit and have a peek before booking for their family, and they are often a bit stressed about the responsibility.

So nothing too weird or dangerous, however, I still don't give out this information and I advise them to have their relatives open an account and contact me direct. So that's how we do it, it's better that way and the relatives are usually better off when they can write to me.

Before you know it they are booking their next holiday with another host!! 

Regards, Christine.

[Christine1]

@Nikita0, 

Always have your standard operating procedures which are consistent with Airbnb safety guidelines. Don't waver from these security practices, regardless of whether you feel there is an exception where you feel tempted to accomodate extra information. Remain vigilent but don't be alarmed, there will be some who will try to work around your screening procedures, but mostly it's just people trying to figure things out. It's in your interests to assist guests make a choice of accommodation and location which suits their needs, even if it does not turn out to be your place.

You can't assume the town a person says they are from on their profile is genuine, so put that to one side. But if say, it was from locals is there a reason your neighbours, council/ local government or other agency may be trying to ascertain the location of your listing?

Regards, Christine.

[Mark29]

In the past few days i have had 2 different potential guests request my exact address. Both wanted 3 weeks stay so it was quite tempting. One had no reviews the other had 2 reviews that screamed fake to me. Both became very demanding and offensive when they didnt get what they wanted. Im quite pleased i held my ground. there's something not right here. Coincidence, maybe, inexperience with the Airbnb processes, possibly. Im just passing this along as info. Holiday season in europe perhaps brings out a little bit of sillyness. MF