@Nadine61
Airbnb pays host on the second day of the guest stay.
A listing that has no reviews after 3 months and some red flags with the photos and description will be higher risk for being a scam.
Some other common tactics for scammers:
* Try and communicate with guest off the Airbnb platform.
* Try and get guest to book and pay outside of the Airbnb platform. They might offer a lower rate if they book off the platform.
* They may try and contact you the day of the trip or just before and claim there was some issue with the listing you rented so are switching you to a different one.
* Be aware with no reviews it could be a scam, and guest may be directed to a house that is owned by someone else that has no clue a scammer used their address.
* Guest would be covered by Airbnb as long as the booking is made on the platform, and they will try and find you another place, but there may not be as many options for last minute booking, or if guest arrives late at night it may be difficult to find an alternative that late at night, could be freezing cold, or cell phone doesn't work.
---- You could also ask the host if they have a business license and permit. A lot of listings don't, but mine does, and they could verify this. I have a picture of my STR permit on my listing and host are required to include their operational permit number on the listing description. This helps guest find listings that have been approved and passed local safety and zoning inspections. Otherwise it is a review based system and so a listing with no reviews would have higher risk.
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