Leaving it to the hotel, cops, etc. to determine if a crime has or has not been commited...
This thread got me to wondering:
If you were some unscrupulous person who found a way to get folks' hotel account #'s and some other information - at least enough to book rooms using their points. How would this business operate? How do they find gullible customers, rooms, etc. How do you hide yourself from the law, etc.
Since part of (in some folk's eyes, maybe the greater part) the crime here was bad redemption value, maybe you look at the the PointsBreak list and choose an IC or two. Then advertise that you have some nights there that need to be used and you're willing to make someone a good deal on it. Hey, the points don't cost you money, you're being frugal with them so you can make more money, etc. so you have a great profit margin.
If you were operating from another country and abused IP telephony, you could hide yourself from the hotels and cops fairly reasonable. Also hard to prosecute.
I hope none of you take this as a challenge to start a new illegal business, but it is an interesting thought experiment.
BTW, my sympathies to the OP as this sounds like a pain to deal with. Fortunately he caught it in time to save his points, if not his time and energy.