What are some known Guest Scams?

Answered!
Anthony608
Level 10
Silver Spring, MD

What are some known Guest Scams?

I have been hosting for two years now and have seen my share of shady and suspicious guests.  I am wondering what actual scams other hosts have seen committed by potential guests.

 

The most serious scam I ever saw was what I believed to be a key-copying scam.  A man in Boston booked my room, then on the first night of the reservation, an unknown woman came to the residence and was knocking on the door, apparently unaware that the door had a keycode entry. She did not have any of the check-in instructions and had only been sent on her phone a screenshot of the home’s address. Once in the residence, the woman began asking repeatedly to be given an actual key. After several minutes of explanations, she finally understood that there was no key but rather a keycode for the door which would expire at the end of the stay. This clearly upset her a bit and she became visible nervous. She then went outside and was on her cellphone for a minute before walking away towards the local bus stop. She did not return to the residence on the first night, but closed the door to the room and left the lights on as to give the appearance that someone was in the room. Upon checkout, the room was found to be undisturbed and it did not look like anyone had slept in the beds.

 

Another, more complicated scam, involved a guest who was trying to gather information about the property without actually booking.  Over the course of six months, I received  three pre-approval booking inquiries - they all said the same thing - mainly that a guest wanted to book the room for a large number of days, was "moving into an apartment" and needed the room right away. The first of these I agreed to, since I thought I had a good opportunity for a booking and there were no real warning signs. However, the pre-approvals would then expire, and then the guest began sending numerous messages through AirBNB asking for extensive details about the house. More messages followed, asking details about did I live alone in the house, who else would be there, and also they wanted the specific street address prior to booking so they could come and see the house before booking. When I explained this was against AirBNB policy, the messages suddenly stopped. Then, several weeks later - pre-approval request again, asking about the room, moving into an apartment, need it right away, etc, etc. An obvious script which was being repeated.

 

To a lesser degree, I have received numerous questionable messages about same day bookings.  Typically strange vague messages, speaking about emergencies and needing the room right away.  Of those I've approved,  20% of them never show up and of those that do about 30% don't stay the night.  Obviously something going on.

 

What scams have other hosts seen?

1 Best Answer
Robyn401
Level 3
Imperial Beach, CA

Yes, I’ve had many of those.  No history with AirBnB yet wanting to book an expensive property for months rather than monthly.  No photo and just joined.  And always Chinese.

 

But I’ve also had at least 4 who book, then cancel straight away.  So I wonder if this is a money washing thing.  If it is booked with a pre-paid credit card, there is no room to go back and recover damages from the guest. And money goes off and on  the card - from Chinese to US dollars - within 24 hrs.

 

I had one married couple, new to Air bnb, school teachers (or so they said), who said they had a young child for which our property (they said) was perfect,  who booked and cancelled within 24 hrs BECAUSE they could not get vacation time together.  Highly suspicious given that their vacation time is set in stone.

 

I don’t want to do instant book because I’ve been stuck with that before when I had a private booking (friend needing accommod) and could not get to the air bnb calendar in time to block out those dates.  Penalty to me.  Won’t do that again.  So now I only get enquiries from those who, for the most part,  just now joined air bnb.

 

Air BNB needs to screen these people better.  Just one ID is insuffient. What ID?. Address verified?  Last year these false applications were so bad that I removed the listing entirely for this property for most of the year, and then when those applications started up again, as described above, I had to remove the listing again or be accused by AirBnB of not responding.  I spent more time fending the applicants off or requesting further info and then having to justify that request, than I had time to attend to.

 

 

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112 Replies 112

We have someone right now who says he's from Iceland doing the same thing.  Same question.  What is the scam though?  

Rachel - I got him today fashion designer with 2 models & translator. Earlier today from NYC also w translator &

assistant. Both new users & wants to text. 

I had the same scammer!  They tried on both of my properties!!

Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hi @Kim3413 ,

Just curious to know, how did this go in the end? Were you able to decline their request?

 

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Please follow the Community Guidelines

We are new hosts and got several bookings from experienced high-rated AirBnB guests for the holidays, but just today got a strange request for 20days (Jan10-30) for 4 people from a new AirBnB user with no history, though AirBnB says they are “verified” by one ID. Says Speaks Mandarin and English, based in NY, NY. 
first message was “…will your sweet house accept my scheduled date?” And second was 'It's a quiet place around your house, especially at night, I like watching the news and reading at home'

Weird. We’ll see what happens..no booking yet.

Sasha - I also had the same Chen contact me, same exact text.  Besides asking for a long stay, that bit about asking me about reading triggered caution, and then "I'm sorry, have something to do," spelling out the number - exactly the same.  I also flagged it to airbnb, but the account doesn't seem to have been taken down yet (another who had contacted me and was weird, airbnb removed from airbnb, and their messages are no longer visible).

 

I came to this page to se if anyone knew what do the scammers GAIN by doing this?  Today I received a month-long inquiry asking if I was truly owner occupied, which made me wonder if they were looking for a home to loot or squat in.

Thought I’d check out this forum when an inquiry from someone with only “King” as his name, said he’s interested in 3-6 months, already fishy, for himself, assistant, and his accountant. Huh? Would need to come a few days “before booking period” and pay in lump sum.  Sounds similar to yours.

Yes I just had this King guy messaged the same exact info and ask to exchange numbers because he was at work and it would be better for him to keep up with messaging instead of looking at airbnb. He also sent a picture of him and his dog and asked if animals are allowed in the airbnb.

yes same thing just happened to me... 

This is the picture he sent me: 

**[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

Robyn401
Level 3
Imperial Beach, CA

Yes, I’ve had many of those.  No history with AirBnB yet wanting to book an expensive property for months rather than monthly.  No photo and just joined.  And always Chinese.

 

But I’ve also had at least 4 who book, then cancel straight away.  So I wonder if this is a money washing thing.  If it is booked with a pre-paid credit card, there is no room to go back and recover damages from the guest. And money goes off and on  the card - from Chinese to US dollars - within 24 hrs.

 

I had one married couple, new to Air bnb, school teachers (or so they said), who said they had a young child for which our property (they said) was perfect,  who booked and cancelled within 24 hrs BECAUSE they could not get vacation time together.  Highly suspicious given that their vacation time is set in stone.

 

I don’t want to do instant book because I’ve been stuck with that before when I had a private booking (friend needing accommod) and could not get to the air bnb calendar in time to block out those dates.  Penalty to me.  Won’t do that again.  So now I only get enquiries from those who, for the most part,  just now joined air bnb.

 

Air BNB needs to screen these people better.  Just one ID is insuffient. What ID?. Address verified?  Last year these false applications were so bad that I removed the listing entirely for this property for most of the year, and then when those applications started up again, as described above, I had to remove the listing again or be accused by AirBnB of not responding.  I spent more time fending the applicants off or requesting further info and then having to justify that request, than I had time to attend to.

 

 

Thanks Robyn, This was very helpful.

 

I have just had a request to book for 4 months from someone named 尤, which translates to "you".  No reviews, no profile info or picture. I attempted to report but the report interface does not have an option for this. Just 3 choices having to do with requests to do business outside of airbnb.

 

I agree with everything you have said about Airbnb improving its screening. What's the point of allowing hosts to specify that they will only book guests with positive reviews, profile photos and profile information if they then send you requests from guests who don't meet any of those requirements? Then you compromise your host status by refusing them. It's very frustrating.

I also received the same message from the same user.  Thanks for sharing

We had the same request, but had the name of “later”

This is a very common request. Although they seem to be from China, they are all from Thailand. I could grab the IP address. As far as I could understand, they book your property and rent to someone else for a higher price. This is their business.

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