Anatomy of a scam

Miami, FL May 1, 2026

We're excited. Our first booking from Google Vacataion Rentals. It's a last minute booking, which is not unusual for Miami, single guest also not an issue, but the guest added a self check-in to the booking - not unheard of, but in the last 150 reservations, exactly zero guests have added it, especialy on the listing that's on our propety. First red flag. 🚩

Then the CVC check - you know the three digits on the front of your card that aren't your expiration date - is unavailable, but it should be. Hmm. Weird. Red flag #3 🚩. Again an incorrect card number and our payment processor declines the payment.

We launch our secret weapon. A simple message to the guest. Real nice. Friendly. We understand that sometimes there are issues with payment. Happens to our international guests. So please just be so kind and try again, we've included the payment link. Oh, and by the way, include a photo of your credit card please.

Then something strange - the payment is cancelled during the credit card transaction; but since it's our first booking on Google, I can't rule out that it opererator error (it's happened before).

I call the guest of the phone and she tells me there was a weird error she saw too and asks me to send a new payment link. Which we do. A few minutes later the first charge declines, due to a wrongly entered credit card number. That's weird. Second red flag 🚩

Struggle to pay

Defense in depth

Roll out the big guns

All of a sudden silence - no message, no call, no text. Guess you don't have the card to take a photo of now, do you? The forth red flag 🚩.

By the time our partner send her the link to our external guest verification, she's long gone. Red flag 5 🚩. The moral of the story here is defense in depth through a good tech stack and the knowlege how these scammers work. Realize that they do not have the physical card most of the time, but rather a list of credit card numbers, addresses and expirtaion dates. As soon as you ask for proof of the physical card, they're gone.

Unfortunately, these strategies are painfully won lessons. However we're now quite confident that we're more secure than we were a few months ago - of course nothing is ironclad when it comes to fraud, but you can make it harder to be taken advantage of.

Our payment processor checks address, zip codes and CVC codes.
We include ad ons that no normal guest will book - like a $200 self-check in (but fraudsters, who wants to stay anonymous will gladly add.)
A phone call with a voice on the other end can give you a good indication.
And scammers hate ID verification.

Each one of these steps is not sufficient to discover a scammer, but as the red flags 🚩 pile up, you need to be alert and pay attention. A guest having a problem with any of these also can have a perfectly good explanation

like our french guest last year whose card declined, because his bank had to report any foreign transaction over $10,000. He straightened it out with his bank and was a delightful guest.
or a recent guest who just wanted his privacy, but didn't want to pay for a self check-in, we agreed and ended up meeting him at check-in after a few messages with this wonderful person.
or guests who want to make sure they understand how their personal information is used, that are totally on board with it, once they understand that it helps us combat human trafficking and fraudulent transactions.

But when these all come together, watch out. You're about to be had.

ProTip: Confirm the number of guests

Miami, FL Feb 9, 09, 2026

We often hear from hosts where guests book their listing for fewer people than show up on the arrival date.

Our guests often confirm the number of people arriving before they arrive, as this family did.

Looking forward to our stay! To confirm, we are 4 guests: 2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant.

So, how on earth do we get guests to let us know how many people will arrive for the booking?

It's simple. We ask.

Here's how our check-in message begins:

"Dear Anna [not our guest's real name],

We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome you on 08 Feb 2026 at 04:00 pm for your stay at Miami Pool Cottage! We want to confirm a few details to ensure that our team has prepped our place correctly: You have reserved the Miami Pool Cottage for a total of 3 guests, are not traveling with a pet, and you are checking out on the 12 of 02 at 10:00 am."

It's a lot harder for guests to argue that they didn't know the reservation wasn't for 8 guests, or that their dog needed to be added to the reservation. Even our check-out time is much less of a back-and-forth because we've confirmed everything 24 hours before check-in.

And often, they will confirm how many guests are arriving. Now you may say, "I don't have the time to remember to do this the day before arrival, having to dig through my reservations to figure out how many people are coming, whether they are traveling with a pet, and whether the guests paid for a late check-out."

Can I let you in on a little secret? Neither do we. All that info gets pulled from the reservation by our PMS, which knows all the details, even early check-in times or late check-outs, and it is scheduled to send the message to our guests exactly 24 hours before they arrive.

Of course, that same paragraph looks like this in our automation:

"Dear {{guest_first_name}},

We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome you on {{checkin_date}} at {{checkin_time}} for your stay at {{listing_name}}! We want to confirm a few details to ensure that our team has prepped our place correctly: You have reserved the {{listing_name}} for a total of {{number_of_guests}} guests, {{reservation_pet}}, and you are checking out on the {{checkout_date_day}} of {{checkout_date_month}} at {{checkout_time}}."

You can make a similar message in quick reply in Airbnb - it's not going to be as customizable as one that's inside a PMS, but it's a good start.

The bottom line is that if you want to know something about your guest, just ask. You'll be surprised how often they'll just tell you.

Stick to your guns …

Miami, FL Jun 20, 2025

Well, more accurately, your policies and procedures. We had an Airbnb reservation that we canceled yesterday. For a 3-day booking starting today.

It’s hard to give up a guaranteed booking, but for the past year, we have been requiring guests to complete guest verification outside of Airbnb, and it's served us well.

Airbnb actually backed us up on this.

Not only does Airbnb allow it, they also back you up and cancel the reservations of guests who have not followed this part of our house rules. Just like we did yesterday.

$ZERO is better than a bad review

We’d rather lose out on a three-day booking than have to deal with a guest who doesn’t respect our home.

It’s no fun seeing that money disappear, and the canceled reservation shows $0. But dealing with a potential bad rating, bad review, or even worse, damage to the property, is not worth a few days' booking.

But if our listing is priced right, you still have a chance to get a reservation and salvage 2 of the 3 days, achieving 60% occupancy.

Or you can get a last-minute guest who is looking for a place now! See? There is a God, and he loves us. We just got booked by a sweet family starting today.

And yes - even though they made the request to book at 4 pm, we stuck to our guns, had them complete our guest verification, and now they’re in the pool, having a great time.

And our weekend is back to 100% occupancy with great guests.

Set policies.

Stick to them.

Enjoy hosting.

Insurance: How to save 5-figures

Miami, FL Apr 09, 2025

Insurance is a major expense in our vacation rental business, ranking third behind mortgage payments and property taxes.

I've heard many hosts express frustration that the insurance premiums for their short-term rentals (STRs) are pricing them out of their dream of hosting.

I can relate; when Proper ran a quote for only one of our four properties, it was higher than what we paid for all four houses in 2024.

We received a renewal quote from our insurance broker a few weeks ago, which showed an increase of 20% in our insurance costs. When I got the quote, I was not looking forward to having another large chunk taken out of our profit.

Although we are running a business, we all know that guests are not going to accept a 20% increase in nightly rates. They'll just book another place.

Here's our solution: Over the past few years, we have employed two separate insurance brokers to explore the market for the best deals. The broker that provides the best coverage and pricing earns our business.

Always Shop for Big-Ticket Items

Today, we received a quote from our second broker that is 40% lower than the renewal quote, but it offers the same coverage as last year’s policies.

The moral of the story is that you can increase your profits not just by raising your nightly rates but also by cutting your costs!

Saving 40 cents on each dollar spent on a five-figure insurance policy adds up quickly—it equates to the value of one additional booked night for every two bookings across our listings for an entire year. And who wouldn't want that?

Question: What do you do to keep your insurance costs down?

We don't trust Airbnb to vet our guests

Miami, FL Jan 29, 2025

We just received a reservation request for a same-day booking from a guest who has just set up her account and has not completed ID verification with Airbnb. First red flag 🚩.

Airbnb breaks its own rule.

I called Airbnb support to confirm, and they told me that the granddaughter was making the booking for her grandma. I thought Airbnb didn't allow third-party bookings, but oh well. They also said her granddaughter will complete the ID verification when she comes home from work this evening.

When I asked about violating the third-party booking rule, the Airbnb agent wrote to me that she was aware of the third-party booking and thanked me for my understanding. Second red flag 🚩🚩.

Then, the guest account status suddenly changed to ID-verified—wow! Airbnb Magic. The agent wrote to me that the ID verification will happen tonight, which is the third red flag 🚩🚩🚩. (The guest just messaged me that she is working on her ID verification - 2 hours after her Airbnb account shows that she's verified in their system. Hmmm.

So we have a brand-new, unverified account making a third-party booking for a same-day check-in, all with Airbnb's knowledge and blessing. Can you see my pattern of distrust here yet?

I message the guest that, despite these red flags, we are happy to host her. However, I let her know that, as with all our guests, we require external ID verification with Truvi, signing our short-term rental agreement, and purchasing a damage waiver.

The guest ends up canceling her request. Thirty minutes later, the support agent contacted us and said the guest did not want to cancel the reservation (even though the Airbnb system shows it as canceled, and our calendar is open again). Fourth red flag 🚩🚩🚩🚩.

Airbnb breaks another one of their rules.

Oh, it gets better. I'm chatting with an Airbnb support agent online, and she reiterates that the guest wants to keep the reservation and asks me to please call the guest to discuss this. What? I thought Airbnb had a policy prohibiting hosts from contacting guests outside the platform, and now the agent is telling me I should phone the guest. WOW. What are we up to now, 5? Yeah, fifth red flag 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩.

You may think we are crazy for still being happy to have this guest stay with us, especially with all those red flags 🚩!

We are confident that we have bulletproof systems in place during our registration process because Truvi will verify her ID to ensure that the person making the booking, their credit card, their Airbnb account, and their selfie match the person on their government-issued ID biometrically. Part of our physical protection includes in-person check-ins, ring cameras, noise detectors, and Wi-Fi systems that track how many guests are supposed to be on a reservation, helping keep our guests safe and honest during their stay.

Let's see what happens with this guest, but we've learned not to trust Airbnb's ID verification (which magically changed to 'verified' without the guest providing an ID). We've also learned that the Superhost support ambassadors are happy to violate Airbnb's rules by allowing third-party verifications and asking us to contact the guest outside of Airbnb channels, which we declined.

Understand that you're on your own

The moral of the story is that, ultimately, it's up to you to protect yourself, your listing, and your business.

To learn more about how Truvi can keep you safe, even when Airbnb seems not to.