Ronan

[Ronan138]

Hi,

I wonder if anyone else from the community is experiencing the same problem? Lately, I keep receiving inquiries for an eye-catching one month stay from what appears to be a bot. It is always from a name without AIRBNB history and they always seek to prolong the conversation by asking a question about the property (what they ask is always clear from the description). The replies are also extremely quick as though processed electronically.

They are not genuine inquiries it is clear (I have even tested this by pre-approving the requests and they never book). However, ignoring or declining effects my response rate and/or my decline frequency.

Has anyone else experienced the same and how best to handle?

Many thanks in advance.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ronan138 just respond with a dot and do not decline or accept. Airbnb does seem quite good at deleting these profiles.

[Ronan138]

@Mike-And-Jane0 thanks so much for the advice. Will do.

Separately, do you happen to know what the objective of the bot is? What do they gain by these random requests? Thanks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ronan138 I have thought long and hard about this and see no way the fake guest could benefit. The ONLY thing I came up with is that it could be a local host using a foreign service to damage your search placement which would succeed if you either didn't reply or declined to accept the inquiry. Highly unlikely but you never know - The host could be innocent and just paying a supplier to help improve their search position.

[Joan2709]

@Ronan138 

@Dave-and-Deb0  wrote a great thread on this topic and explained one possible scam motive:

Common Scam

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help-with-your-business/SCAM-ALERT-Host-s-Beware-Common-Scam-Targeting-Airbnb-Hosts/m-p/2038305#M78296

[Dave-and-Deb0]

I have actually sent special offers for a very high amount, like $30,000.  Of course, they never become a confirmed reservation.