New SCAM!

Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum

Help Support Bed & Breakfast / Short Term Rental Host Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

user 26

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
5,765
Reaction score
97
i just got finished talking to the police dept about this one. what follows is as close to exact as i can recall:
received a phone call 'from jean at xyz bed and breakfast ... confirming your reservation for this coming weekend.' (( note that the caller doesn't ask to speak to my sister by name - i guess she assumes i am her ))
me: you must have the wrong number. i don't have a reservation.
her: oh, i'm sure that you do! the caller gave this name and phone number (i am staying at my sister's house, and her and husband's name are in the old phone listings everywhere) and the caller is assuming i am my sister
me: well, i am sorry, but i still believe you have the wrong number and wrong person
(my sister is away and i know exactly where she is staying, at their own summer place - but i don't let on that i am house sitting)
her: the reservation was guaranteed by your Visa credit card. let's compare credit card numbers so i can CHECK on this
RED ALERT RED ALERT
me: what credit card number do you have on the reservation?
her: well, the name on the card is xxxxx xxxxx, address is xxxxx xxxx .... what is your credit card number?
me: what credit card number do you have?
her: what is your Visa credit card number? if you say you didn't make this reservation, maybe someone stole your information!!! we better compare credit card numbers.
me: what credit card number do you have?
her: since this reservation is in your name, your card is going to be charged for the reservation.
me: what credit card number do you have?
her: so i will assume this information is valid and we will be charging your credit card for a three night stay.
me: what credit card number do you have?
her: you are not being very cooperative. click
*69 shows number is private
so i called the local police to tell them about this phone call in detail.
this woman was totally cool ... reading off my sister's name and address and the call sounded scripted
 
I wonder how many folks they call before they get someone to give them their number.
 
This might also be something you want to alert B&B.com to - get the word out there to B&B stayers....thanks for the heads up! How many times do we need to tell people to not give their credit card # out?!
 
This might also be something you want to alert B&B.com to - get the word out there to B&B stayers....thanks for the heads up! How many times do we need to tell people to not give their credit card # out?!.
There is also the overpay scam if you are selling something or they are paying with a check. They mail you a check with more money than requested on it and before you realize it's fake, they have you WesternUnion back the difference. By the time the person gets word from the bank that the check was a fraud you've already been nice and wired back their extra money since it was a "mistake". You are out that money and it didn't cost them a dime.
Jenny
 
I'm getting upset just reading this. Surely there will be plenty of people who fall right into the trap and read off their number.
Ugh.
=(
Kk.
 
Back
Top