<prompt> Human: Hi redditors! I really need your help!I made a booking on Airbnb to stay in a flat in New York and Ive just received a message via whats app requesting me to send 500 dollars for a security deposit via money gram. I havent been informed about a security deposit until now. They requested I send the money to a third party their manager. I do not believe this is legit and have told the hosts during our conversation that I will not proceed with this, I will only give them money in person. I was looking into cancelling the reservation but as Im travelling there in less than 5 days the terms and conditions state that the first night is non-refundable and the remaining nights will be 50 refunded. It all feels well planned and Im not sure how to go about with this. Im travelling there on Monday and Im not sure where I will be staying and I dont want to lose my money. I have contacted airbnb but havent heard back as of yet.Any help will be much appreciated.EditIve contacted airbnb and their security team will get in touch asap.Assistant: This is definitely a scam. Airbnb specifically states that you should not pay any money unless its through Airbnb. Human: Hi! Thank you for the reply! Thats what I thought and Im not sure what to do next. If I cancel it I will lose quite a bit of money  <response>: You wont lose money if airbnb agrees with you that its a scam. I made a reservation a few months ago for a flat in Amsterdam. I tried a dozen times to get in contact with the host through airbnbs system. He never replied back to me. I called airbnb and told them I thought it was a fraudulent listing - the reservation didnt have the apartment number nor a phone number to contact the host. They agreed with me, cancelled the reservation for me, gave me a 50 credit for my troubles and sent me a few listings in the same area that they thought would be a suitable substitution. They were actually really good about it and followed up with me afterwards to make sure I was happy with my second choice. 