New Scam or Old?

Got a very suspicious enquiry. Pasted it below. Anybody else seen something like this? Cant quite wrap my head around what game he’s playing.

“Hey! l am *****. Soon I will be having a business trip to Puducherry. 1 was l00king through Airbnb tto find some apartments there and wouldd like to book your apartment There is something about my booking that I would like to discuss with you The thing is that I am actually not planning to stay in your household my good old friend is going to host me instead. What I am thinking about is to stay at my friend’s house once I’m there instead of checking into your apartment. Here’s myy pr0p0rsa1. Book your household, never check in and just share the rental fee that will be paid by my employer You cann justt have some moneyy for ddoing nothingg. If you are interested to earn some easy money and help me to achieve that as well p1ease gett bback tto me soon. You could text me in VVaz zap. My nuber is seven…nine oone ****”

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It’s old. I’ve seen it posted at least twice before. Please report the guest to Airbnb.

The guest is playing on your greed. But he will likely use a fraudulent method of payment which Airbnb will catch after you’ve already sent him a “cash” refund for half.

[Edit: He will likely try to do the entire transaction off-platform, though, so he’s more likely to succeed in scamming you that way.]

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Been coming up over the last four years at least. If you go on Airbnb Help and type in ‘scams’ or similar it gives examples of the most common one and what to do.

Please report to Airbnb @p_rose

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long discussion about similar in this thread.

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Yep, it’s been around for ages. But whatever they’re up to, it’s their lookout and not mine. It’s great when hosts report these things to Airbnb. I always forget and then feel guilty when I see another post here about scams because I know I should…

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I agree with others, report him to Airbnb.

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Thanks, this really helps. This enquiry is almost a word-for-word match with those reported on the thread link that you shared. Reported it to Airbnb and declined.

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Don’t use up your acceptance rate declines on inquiries- all you have to do is message back- in this case “No”. You don’t need to either pre-approve nor decline an Inquiry (as opposed to a Booking Request), just messaging back within 24 hours fulfills your obligation.

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Yep got the exact enquiry today and has been reported! Same wording.

Welcome! Fortunately, these types are usually not too slick in their approach.

Unfortunately, once we host again, we will probably not allow IB except perhaps with all measures enabled.

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I received this right now:
Andra09:36
Hello, Lars! My name is Andra. Soon I will be having a business trip to Ålen. I came across your listing and would like to book your apartment There is something about my booking that I would like to discuss with you Please, contact me on VVaz zap as soon as you can My numbra is plus sevvven nine three, two three ooone twoo twwo and. tttwo zeeero and. six

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As it says above common scam. Decline. Report to Airbnb. @Lars_Laenn

No, he shoudn’t decline! These come in as Inquiries. There’s no need to decline an Inquiry- that just lowers your acceptance rating. On an Inquiry, just message back, all it has to be is a “No.” or “Go away scammer.” or just " !"%&* ".

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I send them a billion dollar special offer … and then report them. Only had a response to one report so far of the 5 reports

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Today I received the same notice. Lucky i am a smart host. It had so many signs that this was a scam. BEWARE. “Hello, …! I’m Anton. I’m going to have a trip to Berwick. I was looking through Airbnb to find some apartments there and would like to book your apartment I would like to discuss a few questions, before booking you apartments. Please contact me via VVaz zap This is my number plus one fiiive and, siiix twooo thhhree ttthree zero seven oneee seveen fouuur.” Hmm.?
New to Air b, No profile, knew how to write letters not numbers … , american number, cant currently travel to my Suburb in Australia. So many Bells. Just do what the others have said in this Feed. Report as scam.

The guest is playing on your greed. But he will likely use a fraudulent method of payment which Airbnb will catch after you’ve already sent him a “cash” refund for half.