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Airbnb tagged this query as a potential scam and gave me the option to block the party; what do you think?
My name is XXXX. I am a Missionary in Honduras ( (Website hidden by Airbnb) and have been for 17 years. I am working on a very important project. There is a Honduran girl 18 years old that has a brain tumor and has had 16 surgeries here in Honduras to try to remove the tumor! For two years I have been able to raise the money for her to have life saving surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Her surgery is slated for September 19 ( pre-op consult and tests begin on Monday, September 16. Check out this video a (Website hidden by Airbnb) (Website hidden by Airbnb)
The reason that I am writing you is to see if there is any way you can help me with the cost of your condo? I have raised almost $ (Phone number hidden by Airbnb) for the surgery. If there are any complications, or additional days in the hospital it will cost me almost 5 k a day! We are a 501c3 non profit ministry and any discount or donated costs will be tax deductible. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am anticipating staying Sept (Phone number hidden by Airbnb) th. At $ (Phone number hidden by Airbnb) /night that comes to $1,232. I will have my wife here 3 nights and the rest of the stay I will be alone.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter and I apologize for the length of the message! My email is (Email hidden by Airbnb)
And my phone number( Vonage line (Phone number hidden by Airbnb)
Very Sincerly,
@Jenna Actually, when I opened the guy’s message, an Airbnb alert came up indicating it was a potential scam so apparently Airbnb is getting better at protecting hosts from scam artists…
I would simply reply to them to contact Airbnb to apply to become a medical stay Open Homes partner at openhomes@airbnb.com. Then the scammers are Airbnb’s problem.
If you want to mess with them, ask them for their nonprofit EIN (tax ID number) so you can look them up on the U.S. Internal Revenue Service nonprofit search site.
@KenH@alkira@CeeBee and everyone else who provided your feedback – thank you for your guidance! This guy has some nerve; I’m sure someone will end up falling for his B.S.
I checked the missionary’s blog and it appears that the story of the sick Honduran girl might be true; interestingly, the blog makes mention that the missionary was able to get a Miami family to allow the patient and her mom to stay with them during her medical treatment. So, if the girl and her mom have a place to stay, why would the missionary need to come to Miami for two weeks to “accompany” the sick girl? One would think that the missionary is coming because the patient and her mom don’t speak English, but it’s easier to find someone who speaks Spanish than English in Miami, so certainly the mother of the patient doesn’t need any translating.
Also, based on the blog, the missionary was recently sick and his “community” had to pay for this travel expenses to fly from Honduras to the U.S. for medical treatment…
Oh boy, this missionary and his wife are real manipulators…
