Is this legitimate?
I have booked an apartment in Rome from the 6th to 10th of July. The apartment was probably one of the first search results that popped up. After reserving through booking.com, the property then messaged me with a link to complete the reservation. I went through the provided link which had a another payment screen. Thinking this was standard practice, I put in my card details but for some reason it said "card not supported". I had to try 3 different cards until it worked. Its not until I used Revolut where the payment almost went through, then I realised the amount that was about to be deducted from the Revolut app did not match the actual price of the apartment. Thats when I realised something might be a bit fishy. I cancelled the payment and tried to chat with booking.com customer service to try and verify the legitimacy of the property. They said they will update me via email once the property reaches back to them.
In the meantime, I would like your opinions on this. Am I right for being skeptical? As the reservation is non-refundable (although no money has gone out of my account yet), do you think I should try to get a free cancellation? Please advise!