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The same exact person, “Diana” tried to book my place too back in August! Her profile also says joined July 2019 and word for word sent the same message to me. I did however notice it was a phishing site and declined her inquiry and reported her profile.
Now, I recently had a guest who’s profile states he’s from South Africa book Sept. 19-21st, just to be cancelled by Airbnb citing the reason that they think the booking was not legitimate. Totally creeped me out. Right afterward they were cancelled, another person booked the same exact dates, same amount of people. Their profile shows they’re from São Paulo, Brazil. I contact Airbnb right away and explain the circumstances around this booking is concerning and they assured me that this booking appears legitimate. Then I get a message from the person who’s booking was cancelled telling me they are planning on arriving Sept 18th in the morning. This struck me as real odd since their booking already was cancelled and they originally booked the 19th-21st so I’m unsure as to why they’re telling me they’re going to arrive early. After sending a message to them saying their reservation got cancelled, they replied a day later saying “this wasn’t me, I’m contacting my credit card company” which leads me to believe this persons account was hacked and just noticed. Now I’m really on high alert and noticed that the person who booked the same exact dates right after the cancellation has a phone number on their profile that a Russian area code even though the profile states they live in São Paulo, Brazil. These people are due to arrive tomorrow, Airbnb already told me they believe it’s legitimate, but I really feel uncomfortable now about all this, I’m thinking I should contact Airbnb again.
I contacted them last night and was reassured that it was legitimate and to not worry. I go to bed and wake up to find that after midnight, Airbnb did in fact cancel the reservation because it did not appear legitimate. I find it weird that when you contact customer support, they can’t do much despite all the evidence provided and action is taken only when the system throws up flags and cancels the reservation.
Then this morning, I get another request to book the same dates. I question the person and even said a host will meet you at check in and an ID will be required to which they were fine with and told me they are arriving around 7pm tonight. They were very communicative unlike the past two bookings, So I accepted. That’s when their picture pops up and it looks eerily similar to the picture from the first cancellation. Also, they had a different name when they requested to book and changed the name right after they booked!! Maybe this one was my fault for accepting the reservation, knowing these are problematic dates, I should have just blocked the dates out, but there was nothing that appeared odd based on our message exchange, only when the picture pops up which I can’t see until I accept the reservation anyways.
I contact Airbnb immediately and expressed my concern and while they agree the picture and circumstances are eerily similar, they can’t use that to cancel the reservation. My fear now is they are going to check-in and sometime during their stay, I’m going to get an email saying their reservation is cancelled because it does not appear legitimate or the payment will just never make it through to me. Airbnb did assure me that they generally do not cancel reservations once it’s past check-in time but my concern is that it still doesn’t mean I’ll get paid if this booking is eventually flagged in the system.
I’ll let you all know how this goes. I could either be scammed out of a free stay or hopefully things go smoothly, nothing gets damaged or stolen and I get paid for the stay. I really do wish as hosts, were able to see the phone number and picture of guests who request to book. It doesn’t make sense that it only shows up after it’s booked and confirmed. This would be greatly beneficial for us to vet guests wanting to stay and would really help me avoid these situations in the future.
If you are using instant book you can cancel penalty free 3 times a year. And yes, I’d have blocked at least one of the days that they wanted after the first two incidents.
Very good advice. My husband clicked on a link sent by his best friend. Next thing he’s screaming for me to come and get rid of it NOW! It was a naked man with a very large penis full screen on his computer lol. His friends account got hacked.
So far things are going good with this third set of guests on the same dates. It’s been 24 hrs since their stay and a payout has been issued. Guess I was just being paranoid having so many odd things happen surrounding these dates. Hopefully no more creepy bookings/cancellations in the future!
