URGENT: An upcoming guest has a complete change over of profile, what could have happened?

[Willy17]

TO friends around the world who is hosting: I have a guest who was supposed to be a lady originating from England with a proper profile picutre arriving in 1 week time. The discussion and confirmation was made in January. But only a few days ago in Feb i spotted on my calendar a completely unrecognised name with no profile picture and said to be originating from Netherland. And then i realize it is supposed to be that English lady. In less than two months time, name has changed, profile has changed, even originating counry has changed. I messaged her over Airbnb system but she didn't reply. There is no verification at all, so no phone number to talk. Yet i have already given her my exact address upon confrimation when she is supposed to be a proper person... i am worried and wonder what I can do other than wait. I don't want to cancel her (if she is real) if that is a truthful holiday stay, but if it is a fake I am worried about their purpose...

I contacted through Airbnb platform for official help but to no reply.

Ladies and gentlemen, what should i do?

[Nanette1]

That's a really serious matter. As hosts, we need to do what is best for ourselves and our listings. In my opinion, the #1 solution would definitely be to get Airbnb involved. So don't stop sending emails, remind them about your case once or twice a day if you have to. 

If all else fails, and you really don't want to cancel this guest's booking, then I recommend that you meet this person for check-in. If this person misidentified themselves, then I think that would be the only reasonable time to cancel the booking. Make sure you document the whole thing so that you can inform Airbnb about this.

Hope this piece of advise helps.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Willy17

If you are uncomfortable about this guest (I would be), you should contact airbnb and have the booking cancelled.  

[Ally6]

you need to CALL airbnb. It's hard to find the number but if you google "Airbnb Hongkong phone number" it will return results of some thread on a forum where a person posted a list of airbnb numbers in different countries. I think this is a serious matter. And if you can't meet that person at check in, I would insist that airbnb resolves this for you and if it is cancelled, then you should be bale to keep all the money from this booking. 

[Gary1054]

I recently noticed that a past guest had changed their name, city, and sex.  I reported this to AirBnb and they told me that people are free to change their profile information and even assign it to another person.  They told me that I could block this guest.  This guest, who I don't know, now has a history of staying at my place and even a great review (albeit the review mentions a different person).  I consider this a flagrant violation of Identity and Access Management Integrity and requested that my complaint be forwarded to their Security Department.   I happen to have a background in information security and wanted to speak with somebody who would actually understand the issue.  My case was closed out and my concern was not taken seriously.  How can a host trust the identity information of a guest?  What happened to Willy17 is a symptom of a flaw in the AirBnb identity management system.

[Louise1073]

@Gary1054 have you asked to have your review of this guest taken down? I have heard that is allowed, although never tried it myself.

[Gary1054]

Thanks for that suggestion.  Mine wasn't the only positive review for the client.  The basic question about the reliability of identity information and reviews is still an issue for me.