Im a little frustrated. I a am new to hosting and I received a request to book an entire month. AirBNB pre-approved them and I asked the applicants for proof of identity and the same selfie as well as a social media account. They responded right away with a HongKong passport (blonde woman), and the selfie. i did not want to discriminate, but it looked suspicious. Then the facebook profile was the same woman, but a different name. Still, I am trying to give them the opportunity to prove themselves, so i requested a video chat.
From that point on they insisted that i jump onto telegram or whatsapp because they could not send a link. So after a few more back and forths, i tried to call them on whatsapp and telegram and that platform said their security settings was not allowing the call. So they asked for my number so they can call me. I let them do that and finally we got on the phone. The voice sounded fake and almost english/dutch but with chinese mannerisms. We asked them their name right away and she responded with a third name we never heard of. We then asked them about if they like to cook because we have a nice gourmet kitchen and they said chinese food. Clearly the facebook profile said they were in the states. So i asked where they were traveling from and they said Los Angeles (to match the facebook page).
So now I am thinking they put a fake person on a real HongKong passport and used a stolen identity to seem like they were here in the states. They even had a TX phone number. So i started asking about the photos in their profile and they didnt know what I was talking about. Clearly this profile was in los angeles. They further explained to me that they have been in the states for 6 years, then that changed to 10 on the video call. Then she got suspicious of me and posted my property in the telegram chat and the snapshot had chinese writing all over the browser profile.
During the call they did not want to ask basic questions and rushed off. Had to go somewhere. Then after for days they started asking if i lived in the property and if i was there now. I said i lived next door (to keep them from thinking that it was vacant).
This is my first back and forth. The worst part is it took my entire day dealing with this and days after. Since then i learned a few lessons:
1. Don't allow 30 days, reduce it to like 2 weeks since i am a first time host.
2. AirBNB verification is not reliable. Anyone can take a real passport and glue their face on it. Sure the selfie matches, but that's not them
3. Don't allow instant booking. Allow time for you to verify them. Background check etc. If the background checks come up empty or their social media profile is new and/or they have sparse information in it then it's a red flag.
4. Dont give them your personal phone number or email.
5. Stay in the airbnb chat and don't let them get you off of it.
Hope this helps.
Airbnb: Please start using advanced verification procedures and third party verification companies. They are far more robust. Also try to employ AI of photoshopped detection software in their verification.
