February 20, 2007
-
NEWS: Look Out for Hotel Phone ScamNowadays, it seems like scammers are coming up with some new method of separating people from their hard earned money on a daily basis. One of "their" newest efforts is a phone scam targeting un-savvy hotel travelers, says "Money" magazine.
The premise is deceptively simple. You –the traveler- will receive a call, supposedly from the concierge of where you are staying- telling you that there has been a "problem" (deliberately unspecified) with your credit card, and asking you to verify your card number and billing address.
It would seem easy enough to suss out, as most hotel phone displays will indicate if calls come from within the hotel. But, as usual, the scam artists think on their toes. To get around this, they will have the front desk connect them to your room, either by asking for a specific room number, or by throwing out a common last name like Smith or Johnson. When the front desk clerk transfers them, the call will look just like it originated from inside. Using this tricky method, any number of unrelated identity thieves are pilfering crucial information from unwitting travelers.
Luckily, there is one very simple way to derail this scheme. All you need to do is tell the caller that you will visit the front desk / concierge and verify the details in person. Unsurprisingly, the next thing you are likely to hear is a dial tone!