Safety tips for interacting with others

Travel is a great way to put yourself out there and chart some new territory in life. To help ensure you have a good experience, you may want to consider these safety tips when interacting with Hosts and guests.

Get to know people ahead of time

There are many ways to learn about your Host or guest before your trip or experience begins, as early as confirmation phase:

• Read reviews from other users
• Check that their identity and other account information has been verified or confirmed
• Connect through your Airbnb messages, which keep your email address hidden for privacy and security
• Set and pay attention to the listing’s house rules
• If you’re a Host, you may require a profile photo to book your listings

Protect your finances

• Complete all payments only using Airbnb’s secure payments platform
• Keep financial information private and secure—this includes your social security or other tax ID number, date of birth, credit card and bank account information, and government-issued IDs

Be careful what you share

Be cautious when sharing personal information, like your email address, phone number, home address, place of work, etc. It’s best to use your Airbnb messages to communicate with others and set your notifications to be alerted about new messages, reminders, and more.

Keep a clear head and stay connected

• Doing things that impair your judgment may put you at risk
• You might consider letting friends and family know about your travel or hosting plans
• It’s helpful to know the contact information for emergency responders around your stay

Do your own research

Consider doing a web search and checking public government databases, such as US federal or state sex offender registries, for the name(s) of anyone you’re interacting with offline.

Report Terms of Service violations

Help keep our community safe by reporting any users who violate our Terms of Service to us. Examples include:

• Users who ask you to send them money outside the Airbnb payments platform
• Users who send you harassing or offensive messages
• Users who behave inappropriately online or while staying at a listing
• Fraudulent registration, user profiles, or listings
• Users who otherwise create a safety risk

We're here to help

If there’s an emergency in progress, please contact local emergency services or law enforcement authorities for assistance.

For other safety issues, we’re available 24 hours a day. Read more about how to contact us in our Help Center.