Hotel front desk scam
 

I just had a stay at a hotel in the US when around 9:30 at night, I got a call claiming to be from the front desk. She said they had a computer problem and needed to re-enter my information in the computer to cover "incidentals". I offered to come down to the front desk, and she said it wasn't necessary. Then she asked for my address. I told her that I don't give out that information over the phone, and she hung up.

I immediately called the front desk and confirmed, as I had suspected, that there was no computer problem and therefore it was someone trying to scam me. The front desk told me that they didn't forward any calls to my room, which meant it had to be room-to-room. So the caller was probably calling from inside the hotel, but there is no way to track it.

Next morning, I talked to the general manager to report it again. He said it does happen occasionally.

I am familiar with this scam, although never had it happen to me before. What is the hotel's responsibility to track down the scammer or to try to prevent this happening in the future?

crazy... you would think that there would be some sort of tracking since you get billed for every non-hotel call, but I'm not a hotel phone expert.

good to know though, if they had called in the AM when I was sleepy I would've probably given out the info.

That happened to me many years ago and I was fortunate to be awake and thinking clearly enough to realize it was a scam, so and I hung up. I also called the front desk to verify. A few months later, I was sound asleep around 2am and the phone rang with someone telling me my credit card did not go through and he needed the card again. I told him to get lost and hung up. About a half hour later the police showed up to evict me from the room. It took a little while to get that one straightened out.

Didn't the Real Hustle do an episode on this?

Seems a bit harsh to me. Care to report what hotel that was and how things worked out for you? I'd be livid on so many levels if this happened to me.

Yeah, I would be livid, also. You act like a scam, don't be surprised if you get hung up on. I hope this involved a 1-star review of the place.

Were they really the police or hotel security?

Doesn't matter, both is absolutely unacceptable.

1) The credit card clears or gets rejected when you swipe it or settle a charge, not hours later
2) Even if they settle charges at midnight automatically (like a lot of Marriotts do) and then get a rejection notice from the issuer it certainly has time until the next morning)
3) There is no excuse to call up to a room at 2am unless there is a real risk for the health or life of the guest - never
4) Evicting a guest because the CC doesn't clear? Unnecessary and harsh.

I would file a serious complaint with the hotel management.

Btw. I never answer the hotel phone and always mute it.

I was trying to be brief on what is a rather long story, but it seems I left too much unexplained. So here is the long story:

1) This was at an old style Holiday Inn in Tampa, FL that no longer exists. I would not have been staying there in the first place, but I had to spend an unexpected night in Tampa and this was the least objectionable hotel I could find in the area.

2) The incident happened in the late 80's and the hotel did not have a swipe card reader. The person checking the card had to read the numbers on the card and manually type them into a terminal. If my memory is correct, that terminal then dialed up the credit card company to verify the card.

3) A few months prior, our travel agent (remember those?) had sent out a bulletin warning about a credit card scam in hotels where an outsider would call the room and explain that the credit card was not approved and asking for the credit card number again. A few weeks later, I did receive a call like that in a hotel room and hung up. That one was a scam.

4) In this hotel, I was asleep in the room around 2am and someone with a thick accent called and needed my credit card number. I could barely understand what he was trying to say, so I hung up. Phone rings again and he explains he needs me to come down to the lobby and give him another credit card. I told him the credit card I used was most definitely good and I would take care of it when I checked out in the morning.

5) Sometime later, someone is banging on the door. I look through the peep hole to see two policemen and the hotel receptionist. I yelled through the door and ask what they wanted. They told me they were called by the person at the front desk telling them I refused to pay for the room. I get dressed and go to the lobby with them.

6) While the policemen watch, I give the same credit card to the hotel guy. He has thick glasses and yet still cannot see well. All the time he is typing the card number into the terminal, he is turning the card in various directions and moving it in and out in attempt to focus on the numbers embossed into the card. He tries three times and each time, the card is rejected. I give him another card and while he is trying to get the second car to verify, I go over to the lobby pay phone and call American Express who verifies that the first card is good. I gave the phone to one of the policemen and the AmEx rep verified to him that the card was good.

7) Finally, after two attempts, the receptionists succeeds in getting the second card to verify. The policemen apologize for their intrusion and leave.

8) Before I check out, I write a complaint to the manager of the hotel and slide it under his door. He calls me about two weeks later and apologizes for the problems and offers me a free night at the hotel. I tell him no thanks and never did I stay at that place again.

But there is no room to room tracking so the perp would never be found.

One can walk into the lobby and find a house phone and dial anyone's room without tracking either.

Bottom line is that you never give out the information over the phone unless you are certain that you are speaking with an authorized person. The only way to do that is to hang up and call back the front desk. At a large property, ask for the individual's name.

If it turns out that for whatever reason, the call is legitimate, it is up to you to either provide the information, head down to the front desk or make arrangements to do so in the AM.

Examples from the days before immediate credit authorizations are, of course, completely irrelevant to modern systems.

That is a good rule for virtually all calls that you may receive in your life, not just hotels.

When someone calls me, I presume they will have my name and potentially my address. But if they ask for me, I always ask who is calling before I confirm who I am. And I never give out information to someone who called me unless I am 100% certain that they are legit.

I never answer hotel calls by my name; just "Hello?"

If they're claiming that they're representing the hotel, all I need to do is ask them who they believe they're speaking to. Scammers are unlikely to have access to the occupancy list.

One of those times when DYKWIA works rather well...

I never stayed there, but it sounds like it could the old Holiday Inn right next to I-4. If so, you're very right about the other hotels in the area. I stayed in one once because I needed a cheap room. I think it was around $18 per night (in the '90s). While I was checking out, a guy who looked like he was probably homeless came in carrying a car stereo by the wires. He said he stopped a thief who was stealing it from a car in the parking lot and was apparently trying to get some kind of "reward" for returning it. Even without that incident, the place was a dive and I had already decided I'd sleep in my car somewhere before staying there again. Other than the sign, the HI looked pretty worn too, but not as bad as the rest of the places around it.

I don't answer any phone unless I already know who is calling, and sometimes not even then. If it's legit they'll leave a message and I can get back to them at my convenience.