Unfamiliar new reservation on my account: Scam?
Sep 15, 2020, 5:03 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2020
Programs: Southwest Companion Pass holder and A List Preferred. Marriott Platinum
Posts: 42
Unfamiliar new reservation on my account: Scam?
Hello,
Was checking my account for some upcoming trips, and noticed that I had a reservation in New Orleans tonight!
I didn't make this reservation, and it looks like it had my name and Marriott Bonvoy number associated with it. Looking through the reservation there was a phone number and email address that were different than mine and a credit card that was not mine. Makes me think an honest mistake ( I have a fairly unique name for someone in USA), but called Bonvoy and they cancelled the reservation.
Should I be concerned about this? I am changing my account password, but not sure what else to do at the moment.
TIA
Was checking my account for some upcoming trips, and noticed that I had a reservation in New Orleans tonight!
I didn't make this reservation, and it looks like it had my name and Marriott Bonvoy number associated with it. Looking through the reservation there was a phone number and email address that were different than mine and a credit card that was not mine. Makes me think an honest mistake ( I have a fairly unique name for someone in USA), but called Bonvoy and they cancelled the reservation.
Should I be concerned about this? I am changing my account password, but not sure what else to do at the moment.
TIA
Last edited by ayande176; Sep 15, 2020 at 5:04 pm Reason: grammar
Sep 15, 2020, 5:37 pm
#2
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Since you apparently didn't get an emailed confirmation when the reservation was made, I'd start by verifying that the email address on your account is actually yours. If not, this is a HUGE red flag that someone has hacked into your account. Look carefully at the reservation too, even though it was cancelled. Did it use your points, free night certs, or any. other program certs/benefits from your account?
Look at your account carefully for other reservations, redemptions, or points/stay credits you don't recognize, as well as any changes to your profile.
Sometimes a phone agent innocently goes onto the next call without closing out the account window of the previous caller. Can you recall contacting Marriott/Bonvoy around the time the bogus reservation was made?
A last minute reservation (when was it made) for a room in an expensive hotel somewhere you don't travel is suspicious. A short stay in a limited service brand in middle America is less troubling IMO. I'd also worry if the hotel was in a party location, such as a W in NYC or Florida, as someone could damage the room/suite and try to make you pay the cost in addition to room service and minibar charges.
A common scam would be for a hacker to book a hotel using your points and sell it as a regular prepaid reservation to an innocent third party who assumes that they're dealing with a reputable discount TA/OLTA. The criminal isn't necessarily the person whose name is on the reservation you saw.
If there's another person's credit card on the reservation but you have a stored credit card number in your account, it might be possible for the charges to be transferred to your credit card, for example if the other number is expired or is associated with a closed card. I'd be inclined to temporarily remove all credit cards from your account although if you're collecting Bonvoy points from regular purchases, doing so would impose an implicit cost on you.
Look at your account carefully for other reservations, redemptions, or points/stay credits you don't recognize, as well as any changes to your profile.
Sometimes a phone agent innocently goes onto the next call without closing out the account window of the previous caller. Can you recall contacting Marriott/Bonvoy around the time the bogus reservation was made?
A last minute reservation (when was it made) for a room in an expensive hotel somewhere you don't travel is suspicious. A short stay in a limited service brand in middle America is less troubling IMO. I'd also worry if the hotel was in a party location, such as a W in NYC or Florida, as someone could damage the room/suite and try to make you pay the cost in addition to room service and minibar charges.
A common scam would be for a hacker to book a hotel using your points and sell it as a regular prepaid reservation to an innocent third party who assumes that they're dealing with a reputable discount TA/OLTA. The criminal isn't necessarily the person whose name is on the reservation you saw.
If there's another person's credit card on the reservation but you have a stored credit card number in your account, it might be possible for the charges to be transferred to your credit card, for example if the other number is expired or is associated with a closed card. I'd be inclined to temporarily remove all credit cards from your account although if you're collecting Bonvoy points from regular purchases, doing so would impose an implicit cost on you.
Sep 15, 2020, 6:23 pm
#3
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Join Date: May 2020
Programs: Southwest Companion Pass holder and A List Preferred. Marriott Platinum
Posts: 42
Great tips. Thanks.
1. It listed my primary email address on the reservation as usual, but the selection for "alternate email" was used which was a very strange gmail account. The telephone number was different to my personal cell phone. With regards to my account, the email address linked is still mine.
2. No points or certificates were used. A credit card was used which did not match any of the credit cards I own. When cancelling the reservation, it noted that x amount of dollars would be charged IF cancelled after a certain date (sometime in august-30 days) but it didn't state which card was going to be charged.
3. I haven't called any agents recently, but the last time I checked my account was 2 days ago, which did not show this trip. The "reservation" was probably made last minute today, but I would be guessing. The reservation was for 1 night in a Courtyard in New Orleans West Bank/Gretna. Looking on the map it seems to be in a nice location.
4. No credit card is saved on my account precisely for this reason. The 10 second inconvenience of inputting it every time is worth it.
Thanks!
1. It listed my primary email address on the reservation as usual, but the selection for "alternate email" was used which was a very strange gmail account. The telephone number was different to my personal cell phone. With regards to my account, the email address linked is still mine.
2. No points or certificates were used. A credit card was used which did not match any of the credit cards I own. When cancelling the reservation, it noted that x amount of dollars would be charged IF cancelled after a certain date (sometime in august-30 days) but it didn't state which card was going to be charged.
3. I haven't called any agents recently, but the last time I checked my account was 2 days ago, which did not show this trip. The "reservation" was probably made last minute today, but I would be guessing. The reservation was for 1 night in a Courtyard in New Orleans West Bank/Gretna. Looking on the map it seems to be in a nice location.
4. No credit card is saved on my account precisely for this reason. The 10 second inconvenience of inputting it every time is worth it.
Thanks!
Sep 15, 2020, 7:09 pm
#6
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There have been instances like this before. Usually the wrong Marriott number was entered on the reservation. You missed out on some pts! LOL
Sep 15, 2020, 8:05 pm
#7
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this happens quite often. There are a few thread about this. Always important to call and get it fixed, but usually just a mistake where someone manually pulled up the wrong name and account.
Sep 15, 2020, 10:18 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 3,360
If it's a cash reservation and the credit card isn't yours, I concur that this is probably just human error and not a scam.
I used to work at the Central Reservations office for a hotel chain. One of my jobs there was as a Trainer for new hire agents. No matter how much we told them to verify the profile that pops up on the screen (if the guest provided some information that was matched in the database), some agents will just continue without checking. That would be my guess as to what happened.
Sadly, the agent probably knew they made a massive mistake but were too embarrassed or lazy to fix it. I say that because of the secondary email address. An agent wouldn't do that unless they had the caller verify the one on the account only to discover it was different.
As with every job, half of employees at Central Reservations are below average. Some of them are at the far end of the bell curve.
I used to work at the Central Reservations office for a hotel chain. One of my jobs there was as a Trainer for new hire agents. No matter how much we told them to verify the profile that pops up on the screen (if the guest provided some information that was matched in the database), some agents will just continue without checking. That would be my guess as to what happened.
Sadly, the agent probably knew they made a massive mistake but were too embarrassed or lazy to fix it. I say that because of the secondary email address. An agent wouldn't do that unless they had the caller verify the one on the account only to discover it was different.
As with every job, half of employees at Central Reservations are below average. Some of them are at the far end of the bell curve.
Sep 16, 2020, 1:35 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2016
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This happened to me once, immediately after I got off the phone with Marriott CS. Called them back and they sorted it out for me, but I don't know if they made a new reservation for that unlucky individual.
Sep 16, 2020, 2:47 pm
#11
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Might explain some of the "My reservation was cancelled and Marriott said I did it." threads.
Last edited by TomMM; Sep 16, 2020 at 2:55 pm
Sep 21, 2020, 1:44 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 123
no and no for the reasons pointed out above .. why would someone ‘steal’ a profile and put a credit card down for the booking. As noted above the bill heft typically occurs by using credit on the account like points or free night Certs.
the other poster a trainer documented why this is a common error.
the other poster a trainer documented why this is a common error.
Sep 21, 2020, 1:45 am
#14
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 123
one of the most informative posts I have ever read ..thank you!
If it's a cash reservation and the credit card isn't yours, I concur that this is probably just human error and not a scam.
I used to work at the Central Reservations office for a hotel chain. One of my jobs there was as a Trainer for new hire agents. No matter how much we told them to verify the profile that pops up on the screen (if the guest provided some information that was matched in the database), some agents will just continue without checking. That would be my guess as to what happened.
Sadly, the agent probably knew they made a massive mistake but were too embarrassed or lazy to fix it. I say that because of the secondary email address. An agent wouldn't do that unless they had the caller verify the one on the account only to discover it was different.
As with every job, half of employees at Central Reservations are below average. Some of them are at the far end of the bell curve.
I used to work at the Central Reservations office for a hotel chain. One of my jobs there was as a Trainer for new hire agents. No matter how much we told them to verify the profile that pops up on the screen (if the guest provided some information that was matched in the database), some agents will just continue without checking. That would be my guess as to what happened.
Sadly, the agent probably knew they made a massive mistake but were too embarrassed or lazy to fix it. I say that because of the secondary email address. An agent wouldn't do that unless they had the caller verify the one on the account only to discover it was different.
As with every job, half of employees at Central Reservations are below average. Some of them are at the far end of the bell curve.
Jun 19, 2022, 3:52 pm
#15
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Same thing happened to me today - I did an awardwallet update and lo and behold I see a reservation for tomorrow at the Four Points Munich. Which is odd as I’m currently staying at Marriott properties in the LA area. It was a paid rez not points.
I immediately called MR to cancel it and did a password reset.
I have seen this before with Hilton but only ex post facto after the points were credited to my account LOL. I don’t care about the points but I would not be happy if a hacker messed with future rez or starts charging my Amex card. On my current stay I did not even have to show the card when I got my key thanks to mobile checkin.
hopefully just a mistake but odd that my name was on it.
I immediately called MR to cancel it and did a password reset.
I have seen this before with Hilton but only ex post facto after the points were credited to my account LOL. I don’t care about the points but I would not be happy if a hacker messed with future rez or starts charging my Amex card. On my current stay I did not even have to show the card when I got my key thanks to mobile checkin.
hopefully just a mistake but odd that my name was on it.