Very new host...am I getting scammed?

21

Here’s a scam request I received today from a woman named Abby from “CN”:

well ,I work for IBM . And have large amount of money budgest for business trip many times . actually , i can order your house . but i not really go to your room to live causing i have freind in that city and i can live with then for

totally free . I just want to cooperate with you to spend my company’s budget for business trip . and split the budget with you .after money appear to your bank. then y
ou keep 20% , and transfer me the rest of money

…needless to say this user has been reported. I hate all these scamming creeps.

1 Like
22

Looking at that - is there really someone out there that would fall for that? The sentence structure alone makes me want to run…it hurts my eyeballs!

2 Likes
23

so if you are having such a bad year and appear to know you are over-priced, why don’t you do the obvious?

24

I do just love OPs who come on here and post unclear, vague or non sensical questions and then make comments like this is response to other hosts comments! It seems to me, and I haven’t finished reading the posts, that even at this point you had received several helpful responses so I am unclear who you are insulting here and you have not actually replied to a particular person. No doubt you will send some insults my way shortly

25

Hi Emily, sorry to have bothered you so…it was never my intention. I have responded to others posts’ and thanked them…so not sure why you are chastising me. As for stating that I am having “such a bad year” and that I feel that I am overpriced…your words not mine. Please read my follow up posts again where I described that more clearly. No I will not throw any insults your way, that is not why I am here, and I will not be baited by you. I thank you all for you help, again, and will not be responding any longer to this post…the attention I am getting from “Emily” is what makes these sort of things difficult for me…I have been nothing but positive and thankful and do not like when people act like bullies or victims. But honestly, thanks again for all the info and suggestions. They really did help.

26

I liked “inner vice.”

27

Update> here is Airbnb response after I reported this woman. It’s kind of odd since I did not receive any link or external email from this person…

"I am reaching out because another Airbnb member either requested to communicate with you via private email or Facebook, or sent a malicious message in which you may have been asked to verify your listing, or copy and paste a URL into a new browser window. We ask that you halt your communication with this individual immediately. We have removed their account so that you will no longer have access to their message thread.

At Airbnb, we do everything we can to create a safe and trusted marketplace. Rarely, fraudulent individuals misuse our site in the attempt to obtain offsite payment or to gain access to one’s account by communicating via personal email or phone, or by sending malicious links meant to capture your login credentials, and we wanted to alert you to the possibility of such a scam. If you did contact someone via private email, or through a provided URL, please immediately change your Airbnb password and your email password.

Contact information should never be exchanged prior to having an accepted booking. When guests book through Airbnb, their payment is held for 24 hours after check-in. The host’s contact information and listing address are only shared with guests with an accepted reservation. This process allows us to protect the safety and privacy of both hosts and guests. Please read our help article for more information and tips on how you can preserve your account’s security and operate safely online.

All legitimate Airbnb user communications and payments will take place on our website. Any paper or PDF invoice requesting payment via bank transfer, Western Union, MoneyGram, or similar offsite vendor should be immediately flagged and ignored. You can use our flagging feature to report suspicious activity.

Again, we are very sorry for the inconvenience, as this is not what the Airbnb community is about. If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our Trust Center for information on how to protect yourself as a member and have a wonderful experience using Airbnb.

Best Regards,

Airbnb Trust and Safety Team