Wimdu Scam or not?

[booboo]

I received this today, not sure about it?

Hi I want to rent your apartment and i would like to do this through email communication which I think is better for us because i can hardly access my Wimdu account from my location. I want you to contact me via email. Please I understand that Wimdu does not accept email addresses or telephone numbers sent through here. But I have devised a means to send you my email. kindly follow the lead as stated here. My email is this; mike dot mid46 at gmail dot com Regards, Mike.

[kevsboredagain]

Very suspect. I would not even answer that one.

[Cassis]

I would not dismiss it. It could just be someone wanting to bypass Wimdu. Just beware any suspect communications and requests.

[PW in Polemi]

Two things to consider:

Firstly - he says he's interested in renting from you, but doesn't specify any dates. I find that rather unusual.

Secondly - I presume Wimdu is a commission listing site so will charge you and/or him a fee if the booking proceeds through them. Is your property available elsewhere on-line with a little Google search? If so, as he already seems a bit savvy, surely he could have found it for himself and contacted you direct.

So I'm inclined to think there's a possibility there's a scam in there somewhere - but I could be wrong, of course.

If you do proceed, proceed with caution. Maybe set up an alternative disposable email address (if you don't already have one) to use for this guy (and any others in the future where you are unsure).

[booboo]

Thanks all!

Yes, he could easily find me if he wanted to.

I sent him an email back through Wimdu saying i could not agree.
If he wants to find me he can.

[Gig]

Today I got this one on Wimdu - What do you think?

Oct 19, 2015 12:07josephbooth@outlook.com to me
Hello,
I am very interested to rent your property for 2-3 weeks but before doing this through Wimdu, I would like to speak with you by the phone to ask you more details because it is my first time making a booking through Wimdu and I need to be sure this is the right thing to do because these days are a lot of scams. Please write me via my name to talk about, Thank you!
Best regards,
Joseph

[PortugalGuy]

Avoid that

I avoid everyone that tries to bypass a website
If that person is trying to cheat a website... what can that person do with me???
No thanks...
I dont even bother to reply to this kind of messages

It's the same thing like in Airbnb people saying: contact me in 948575893 (obvious the phone number is hidden because Airbnb dont allow exterior communications, and i like that!!!)

[AngloDutch]

Just received the following enquiry through Wimdu:

My name is Michelle, i am Daniel Thomas May's assistant and it would be our pleasure to stay for a couple of days at your place. I have been looking for other locations on this website and yours seems to be appropriate for our needs.I hope it's not too much to ask but it would be perfect if you could send me more information,your number so i can reach you, no offence. Contact me directly at michelleks1505 (at) gmail•com
Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you!

I will just answer via the web platform (will no longer give our phone number out until we're convinced that the enquiry is genuine), but don't expect to hear anything further from 'Michelle'.

[kevsboredagain]

will no longer give our phone number out until we're convinced that the enquiry is genuine

What good does that do? Scammers might call a landline but if it's a mobile they won't have the budget to be calling 1000s of potential victims. Phone numbers are published in many listing sites and only problem it causes is the calls from call centers of other listing sites, trying to get you to advertise with them.

[AngloDutch]

will no longer give our phone number out until we're convinced that the enquiry is genuine

What good does that do? Scammers might call a landline but if it's a mobile they won't have the budget to be calling 1000s of potential victims. Phone numbers are published in many listing sites and only problem it causes is the calls from call centers of other listing sites, trying to get you to advertise with them.

I meant, Kev when someone enquires via one of our commission-based adverts and asks us to contact them directly via an email address and advise our phone number that way.
Enquirers would have access to our phone number on the HA sites where we are subscription-based and phone numbers are also visible on our own sites.
Unfortunately we replied directly to a personal email address not so long ago and advised our phone number as well. Within a few hours we received a reply with a file attachment they wanted us to click on. That enquiry looked genuine otherwise we wouldn't have done it.

[kevsboredagain]

will no longer give our phone number out until we're convinced that the enquiry is genuine

What good does that do? Scammers might call a landline but if it's a mobile they won't have the budget to be calling 1000s of potential victims. Phone numbers are published in many listing sites and only problem it causes is the calls from call centers of other listing sites, trying to get you to advertise with them.

I meant, Kev when someone enquires via one of our commission-based adverts and asks us to contact them directly via an email address and advise our phone number that way.
Enquirers would have access to our phone number on the HA sites where we are subscription-based and phone numbers are also visible on our own sites.
Unfortunately we replied directly to a personal email address not so long ago and advised our phone number as well. Within a few hours we received a reply with a file attachment they wanted us to click on. That enquiry looked genuine otherwise we wouldn't have done it.

OK but that's the other way around. They want you to contact them, either by email or phone, so they can trick you into something.