Multiple Weird inquiry requests in Chinese

[Larissa569]

Hi,

I’m a new host, I have only hosted twice, and I keep getting inquiries from Chinese nationals requesting to stay longer than 30 days, sometimes even 3 months, and they all ask to communicate outside the chat via WhatsApp. They also ask to send photos and videos of my rental via WhatsApp which I refuse to.  They have also asked to meet at the place. Very strange. 

Additionally, they all have the same story- coming to my city to relax or to get to know the area. My rentals are in an urban area where people usually stay for events, work, or big concerts. People also come to see family sometimes, but it’s not like a beach rental or a paradisiac type of place in the woods that people go to relax.

They also say the same thing : they work doing wine trade and real estate, so when I ask about the company info and references they get upset, don’t respond, or ask to give the information via WhatsApp.

My profile specifically states that if you are requesting to stay more than 20 days I need to have your DL’s info, references, reason for trip, and a mid term rental agreement signed.

Eventually I have to decline the inquiry request because they simply stop replying. I’m a new host trying to stay on top of it, but I’m worried that too many inquiry rejections will affect my performance as a host. 

Has anyone gone through something similar ? Does this type of thing affect your performance and rental exposure in the search tool? 

I have reported those profiles already and explained the reason for decline as attempt to scam or violating the rules. Is there anything else I should do ? 

thank you !

Larissa 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Larissa569 Just respond to scam enquiries with a '.' and continue to report the profiles.

There is a risk when declining that the Airbnb algorithm will ding you so it is not worth the risk.

[Larissa569]

Thank you - I was told by cs that we have to decline or accept the inquiry within 24 hours, otherwise it will affect my response rate. Is it accurate ? 

[Trude0]

You were incorrectly informed by CS.

If it is an INQUIRY, you don’t have to decline/accept - you just need to respond to the message.

It is only booking REQUESTS that you have to accept/decline within 24 hours.

Scammers typically send inquiries, not requests.

[Sarina46 · Accepted solution]

You will not be penalized for declining requests that break Airbnb terms of service - which a request to communicate outside the platform is.

Additionally, such requests are most likely scams of some kind, which you can indicate in your feedback to Airbnb when you decline the reservation.

[Jacolyn1]

This has happened to me as well a couple of times. Very suspicious and I also declined. 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Jacolyn1 

There are so many tales of the same thing happening to guests all over at the moment so it's important to report these scammers to Airbnb by using the three dots that you see in the message stream.  If you click on these dots, you'll see "report or flag this message" and give your reason.  Hopefully, they will be removed from the platform if enough hosts use this useful tool to report unworthy Airbnb 'guests"

If you're using your phone, just press 2 seconds on the message they sent you to report them.

All the best
Joëlle

[Zheng49]

If it's an inquiry you don't need to decline. Just make sure to reply once, and your job is done. 

If it's a booking request, then you do need to accept or decline within the specified time allotted. 

[David2054]

The scam is to use your video to advertise the place as a long-term rental. They never book anything on AirBnB.

The 'guest' signs a lease and pays the scammer, then moves. The scammer pockets the rent and you get nothing. Except the joy of hiring an attorney to evict a tenant with a "lease"...just not your lease.

AirBnB does not explicitly prohibit requests for videos from potential guests, so you can't necessarily report the scammer using the AirbnB form to do so. 

I have never tried calling AirBnB support to report this activity but I suspect you'd get the same dead end as the form.

[Dawn1117]

I just received a pre approval inquiry like this, for a 30 day rental, translated from Chinese. The guest’s name translated was “F” and was shown as a verified guest but new to AirBNB with no prior rentals. They asked to do a “small favor”, a video preview. I called support and they said providing video is requested occasionally but 100% up to me and if I didn’t want to, that I should refer them to AirBNB Support for any questions about my property.

They let the pre-approval expire. 

Today I received a new one, a two day pre-approval booking request wanting to cast a TV show about AirBNB’s around the world. I declined.

[Joelle43]

Hello @Dawn1117 

You know you don't have to pre-approve an information request right?  Just a reply is required by the host under 24 hours and that's it. No action other than an answer is required of us other than that.  Just thought it better to check in case you felt you absolutely had to either pre-approve, accept or decline.  

If you pre-approve, this means that you are sending confirmation to this guest that you are happy for them to book and the guest has 24hours to accept or decline your invitation 

Personally I never pre-approve guests unless I'm absolutely sure I want them staying and sometimes our conversation lasts over two days before they are ready to book or not, depending. 

[Dawn1117]

Thank you @Joelle43. I realized that after on the first one. I also found the way to rescind that.

On the second one, I just declined and said “Thank you. I am not interested” in the unlikely possibility that it was a valid booking request. The scammers are so creative. Wish they would put their skills to positive use🤷‍♀️

[Zheng49]

There is no such thing as a pre-approval inquiry. It's just an inquiry, and all you need to do in such a case is to reply one time in 24 hours or less. But ideally you want to reply as soon as possible, to pad your reply time stat. 

You don't need to pre-approve or decline. You just need to reply one time, and that's it. 

[Dawn1117]

Thank you @Zheng49 .