muirford
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 22, 2008
- Messages
- 2,498
- Reaction score
- 15
This was posted to a Facebook group:
BEWARE! Two unlawful men booking rooms at inns!
REDACTED was recently the victim of two scam artists. The men reserved two rooms through Booking.com for a same-day check-in -- but used an invalid credit card and a disconnected phone number. The staff made every attempt to contact the guests before they checked in but couldn't obtain valid payment. Upon arriving at the property, the men made excuses as to why they could not provide a valid card number (in hindsight, it was most certainly a rehearsed act), but since one claimed he was feeling ill, the inn gave him a room in good faith. In the morning, both rooms were trashed and the men were gone.
REDACTED did some outstanding detective work on social media and through booking.com, and was able to identify the men, contact the owner of the stolen credit card, and alert the police. The men have multiple arrests and both have outstanding warrants. It's possible they're choosing independently-owned lodging (like ours) because we're less likely to turn them away. Booking.com has started fraud investigation.
PLEASE be more aware of same-day bookings though OTAs, and make sure the credit card processes before providing keys or other access to your properties. And if something doesn't feel right about a guest, do your research (Facebook is a valuable investigative tool!) Be safe out there!!
BEWARE! Two unlawful men booking rooms at inns!
REDACTED was recently the victim of two scam artists. The men reserved two rooms through Booking.com for a same-day check-in -- but used an invalid credit card and a disconnected phone number. The staff made every attempt to contact the guests before they checked in but couldn't obtain valid payment. Upon arriving at the property, the men made excuses as to why they could not provide a valid card number (in hindsight, it was most certainly a rehearsed act), but since one claimed he was feeling ill, the inn gave him a room in good faith. In the morning, both rooms were trashed and the men were gone.
REDACTED did some outstanding detective work on social media and through booking.com, and was able to identify the men, contact the owner of the stolen credit card, and alert the police. The men have multiple arrests and both have outstanding warrants. It's possible they're choosing independently-owned lodging (like ours) because we're less likely to turn them away. Booking.com has started fraud investigation.
PLEASE be more aware of same-day bookings though OTAs, and make sure the credit card processes before providing keys or other access to your properties. And if something doesn't feel right about a guest, do your research (Facebook is a valuable investigative tool!) Be safe out there!!
