Warning phishing link scam in Airbnb message

[Yvette298]

WARNING OTHER HOSTS of this scam, which tries to get you to click on a link within messages in the Airbnb app.

I recently pre approved a booking request and had a brief message conversation with the ‘guest’.

I have been a host for 6 years and thought any interaction with prospective guests is safe on Airbnb’s app…not so.

This is the message I received……

“I recently paid for a reservation with you, but my account does not yet show a confirmation of the reservation. I would like to ensure that everything is in order and that I will receive an official confirmation from Airbnb soon.

I would appreciate if you could check the status of my reservation on your side and confirm that everything is ready for my arrival.

After paying for the reservation, I received an email and notification from Airbnb that from now on, all reservations needed to be confirmed directly with the hotel to complete the check-in process. This was my first time experiencing this situation, so I immediately contacted technical support who confirmed to me that everything was correct. Even though I have paid and accepted your request, I cannot provide you with a receipt and my passport because the attachment function is not available without confirmation.

They also gave me a pre-booking number: HM54XZXP25

So I'm asking you to visit **and confirm my reservation. This is the last step, according to the operator, to finalize my arrival.”

I decided to phone the help centre, (as we all know clicking on links is fraught with danger,) and of course the whole thing is a scam!

Hope this may help others.

**[Link removed by Community Manager in line with the Community Center Guidelines.) 

[Karen114]

@Yvette298  Thank you for the headsup.  Lots of phone phishing scams going on too. 

[Joelle43]

Hello @Yvette298 

Saw a recent press article with the same phrasing but it concerned Booking!  Concerning though that hackers can get into our message thread and thank you for alerting us that it's happening here too

[Debra300]

@Joelle43,

Hacking isn't necessary to get into a host's Airbnb inbox.  Just about anyone can send a booking request to a host.

Thanks to @Yvette298's keen instincts, she didn't fall prey to the scam.  Her post highlights how she correctly sussed the situation and acted appropriated.  It also emphasizes the importance to be aware of the country location of the domain suffixes at the end of URLs.  In the example shared ".ru" is in Russia.  It should also be noted that she didn't click the link sent in the message or communicate with the sender and contacted Airbnb CS.  

[Bhumika]

Thank you @Yvette298 for sharing this instance with the community. It would definitely help Hosts beware of user profiles who send such messages. Thank you for reporting this user to the Support teams as well! 

Is this the first time you've received such message? Have you seen such repeated messages after this instance?