Suspicious guest inquiries

[Karen3489]

Does Airbnb have a lot of people trying to scam hosts?

I just posted my first listing and received three inquiries right away asking if available.  I messaged each of them back and let them know that yes it's available and approving them to proceed to book if they are still interested. Since then, each one has responded with just really vague comments, such as,  "My dates are flexible and match your dates." Another gave me their What's app number if I was "sincere" about renting to contact them on there? Wtf. If this is what airbnb is like I can do this on Craiglist. I feel like I just wasted A LOT of my time, so discouraging. What am I doing wrong to attract these types of people?

I also got a Chinese speaking inquiry which I have no problem with but if we can't communicate, how do I know they aren't trying to scam me as well? I responded by asking if they would be able to read and sign my House Rules if they are written in English and they replied with "I don't understand but I have a translator."   Yet they did not answer my question.

All three inquiries have zero previous stays and zero reviews and just joined Airbnb this month.

[Helen3]

@Kayla512there is no good reason for a guest to approach you through Airbnb and want to book directly other than the guest wanting to save money.

if you accept a booking off platform and Airbnb see this they can ban you from the platform 

and of course if the guest turns out to be a problem you will have no protection 

tell the guest if they can't afford your listing on Airbnb they should look for other listing that come within their budget 

[Kayla512]

Dear Helen,

Thank you so much for responding. This is exactly what I thought! As they say, "follow your gut" and/or intuition. Am going to accept and follow your advice. . . 

why did I even need to ask? 

Because I have a compassionate heart and like to help. That's a good thing but rules/policies are there to protect us and to be followed. Isn't that what I've taught my children for years? LoL How easily we forget. Thank you so much for this reminder. Much appreciated. 

[Patti66]

I just got two Chinese Speaking inquiries, one in October and one in November. They start with asking if the certain dates are available. The airbnb translation app posts what they say in English. They both had vague/general reasons for coming to the area, typically saying they do business here or they plan to start a business in the area. They say they are coming with a translator and an assistant. One wanted to take a tour of the home before booking and wanted me to communicate outside the app.  Both were brand new to Airbnb and had no reviews. I declined both requests as they seemed like scams. I noticed that Airbnb deleted the inquiry from October and all their messages to me say,  “The message is hidden because the person no longer has access to Airbnb.”

[Trang111]

Interesting...i just posted a similar question yesterday AND you are right down the street from us.

We have had three inquiries since Oct 1st.

1. All three wanted to communicate outside of AirBnB (RED flag #1)
2. All of them had similar, unusual requests:
   1. two wanted video tours sent to them before they would book, 
   2. one of them wanted an in-person tour prior to booking (they were in NYC, our property is in Bremerton).

There were similarities in all three profiles

1. all from NYC
2. all listed chinese as their primary language
3. all three wanted long bookings starting mid Dec through March.

My guess:

1. Some sort of scam being ironed out by the criminals
2. Info gathering efforts for copy-cat app in china
3. burglars/squatters scoping out their next stop
4. lonely guy sitting in his moms basement at 3a skimming through AirBnB profiles 

[Tina9064]

Until you get your feet wet, I'd suggest only accepting guests who have prior, positive reviews. I believe you can set this requirement up in your settings, but also mention it in your listing. I have it in capitol letters as the first sentence. Tends to weed out the scammers and also if a potential guest does have a bad review, I've noticed they aren't able to IB. Hope this helps, and always go with your gut.

[Norma676]

I just had the same thing happen to me... asking to rent the entire month, asking about the community and where is my rental located... she said add me to WhatsApp.... shady