New Host Introduction and AirHost 'Premium Subscription' email Scam

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Hi Everyone,
I’m a newer host who has been lurking and learning on the forum for awhile. I officially registered as a member a few days ago… I’ve chimed in on a couple of topics - I hope I didn’t inadvertently break any unwritten ‘house rules’ by doing so without introducing myself first… Due to the lurking I weirdly feel as if I know some of you already… :slight_smile:

A little bit about me - I live in Seattle. I have a mother-in-law apartment in my basement that I started renting on Air back in September as a break from doing long-term rentals due to my last tenant being somewhat inconsiderate/problematic… Enjoying it so far and still learning as I go.

I’m writing on the forum as I got 2 emails today that look to me like a hoax/scam. The email content and subject lines looked like they originated from AirBnB but there was no history of the communication when I checked my AirBnB inbox.

The first email looked like it was standard booking request for 4 nights however the sender was ‘Premium Subscription (Airbnb)’. There was an immediate follow-up message offering me premium services and high placement in listing searches etc with a message to respond directly to the email for more information…

I did a google search and it sounds like if you reply you get a response with a link to login with your AirBnB credentials but it is not the standard Air site…

Anyway - just thought I would put this out there in the event anyone has seen this…

Here is a screen shot (assuming I upload this correctly) of the content of the 2nd message.

Capture.PNG870×667 26.7 KB

Thanks!

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Gosh how weird!!! I think it’s shady.

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Totally agree… I’m not responding or clicking on any provided links…
This was meant more as a warning to other hosts.

The first email got my attention was kind of exciting initially because I thought I had an inquiry that might fill up my month and bring in a few bucks - you know the ‘new booking high’ :)… And then bam the follow-up email was clearly not the norm.

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Ask yourself these questions about the URL shown in the email.

  • Why would Airbnb buy another domain name? They would use a directory (such as airbnb.com/experiences) or a subdomain (such as blog.airbnb.com)
  • Why would they hide the registration behind a domain cloaking service to conceal their identity? (The main Airbnb site doesn’t).
  • Why would their servers be located in the Netherlands?

Seems like a scam to me :slight_smile:

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All really good ways/questions to identify ANY email scams/hoaxes…

Also, never put your credentials into website you’ve been directed to from an email - this indicates phishing - and the link is used to steal your login/password…

Any legit company you already have an account with will tell you to login to your account using your standard method - they won’t provide a link in the content.