Is this a scam?

Post scam emails to warn other rental owners, or if you are not sure if an enquiry is genuine, put it up here and see what others think.
louiseddie
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Aug 18, 2013 7:43 pm

Is this a scam?

Post by louiseddie »

Looks like one to me but what do you think... and if so how do I reply? Thanks!

Hey, I have seen your lovely property on the ownersdirect webpage. I was wondering if it was available for a full week booking, starting March 18th. As this is for next year, our dates are flexible, so if this particular week is not available, we are open to suggestions. You can reach me at ann@ capable48.com , as i can check this address even if i'm in the office. Best Regards.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

If you have your own website, you could just direct them there so they can see your prices/availability.
Check the domain capable48.com using whois - although it is a newly created domain name, it looks genuine and has a phone number so you could give her a ring.
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

Don't bother replying - it's a scam in the now traditional format of pretending that somehow the email they used to register with OD is not the one they now wish you to communicate on. It's hogwash. Report it as spam to OD and forget about it.
Giuliano
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Post by Giuliano »

Hello,
got the same request, and the old trick which came out was that they asked for confirmation of the location of my property on a fake googlemap page. It's plain old phishing.
Tivoli
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Post by Tivoli »

Obviously I am a bit dim in this regard. I would never have suspected this as a scam, what exactly does it achieve?
Giuliano
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Post by Giuliano »

Tivoli wrote:Obviously I am a bit dim in this regard. I would never have suspected this as a scam, what exactly does it achieve?
he/she gets your googlemail password if you fall for this trick....
Tivoli
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Post by Tivoli »

Giuliano wrote:he/she gets your googlemail password if you fall for this trick....
How?
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

Tivoli wrote:
Giuliano wrote:he/she gets your googlemail password if you fall for this trick....
How?
It may not happen immediately in answer to this email, but maybe later down the process, you'll get an email from them with some link in it, that looks quite innocuous and you click it.

Of course, you are also very busy and pressed for time.

So when the next page comes up with your standard email login and it says "Sorry you have been logged out, please login again" and it looks exactly like what you were expecting, so you login again. Yes, you dutifully type in your email address and your password.

Only the page is not your email provider, but the scammer's lookalike page, and what have you just given them ?
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
Tivoli
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Post by Tivoli »

I see. I completely understand that clicking on a link is the most reckless thing you can do but I don't think it is fair to assume that anybody with two email addresses is up to no good.
e-richard
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by e-richard »

Its not about 2 email addresses. I've highlighted the suspect phrases below. While each one on its own may be innocuous, when found in combination they strongly indicate care needs to be taken.
louiseddie wrote:Hey, I have seen your lovely property on the ownersdirect webpage. I was wondering if it was available for a full week booking, starting March 18th. As this is for next year, our dates are flexible, so if this particular week is not available, we are open to suggestions. You can reach me at ann@ capable48.com , as i can check this address even if i'm in the office. Best Regards.
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
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Casscat
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Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:43 pm

Post by Casscat »

It's not even those terms - useful pointers as they are on the Scam-o-meter - but the dead giveaway of asking you to use an email address other than the one they enquired with. If you want contact via a certain email address, enquire with it! However if you want to cover your tracks and either distance yourself from the address you first used or avoid it being determined that the address you registered with is, in fact, non-existent then just say 'this is the best email to get me on because I am often on the move/pick this up more regularly/can view while at work/other utterly preposterous excuse'. I never, ever reply to enquiries couched in those terms and just send them straight to spam. Having two email addresses is not the sign of a scammer/spammer (I have five or more), but normal folks use specific addresses for specific purposes and don't sign up with one and then ask to be contacted on another.
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