Possible scam booking? Not sure what to do.

[Douglas493]

I am new to AirBnB (property listed since late January) and I also have my property listed on VRBO. I've only had one guest stay so far, which went smoothly.

Until this morning, I had "Instant Book" turned on at VRBO, but not AirBnB. This morning a guest booked my property through VRBO for more than a week. The message the guest sent was very vague and short. Pretty much just "looking forward to staying with you" and not much else. The phone number has a local area code. That area code covers a pretty large area, so that in itself is not necessarily a red flag, but maybe a little odd. The guest profile says "member since 2024," so not much history on VRBO. I looked up the guest's name on Facebook and found someone by the same name who is apparently a local resident, but I have no way of knowing for sure if it is the same person.

I'm kinda leery about this one and not sure what to do. I did turn off instant booking to avoid this situation again. I would have turned down this booking for sure if that had not been turned on. Any suggestions?

[Douglas493]

I also should have mentioned that it was also fairly short notice. Booked today for stay starting Saturday. 

[Terry890]

I do have some local homeless people who check in from time to time.  Never had a problem with them. They’re just exhausted and need a safe place to rest.