Is this a B&B scam?

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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:54 pm

Hello,

I'm new to the board. I am a b&b owner in Belgium and i just recieved this email. It looks very suspicious to me, i just wonder if anyone else had recieved anything similar. I realise it might not be clear to everyone, so the general enquiry is:

Do you have a room for my wife & i? Please send me your account number (you know where this is going, right?!) so i can deposit money into your account as soon as possible. I will also need your phone number to disscuss further details...PS. Please send me a photo of yourself so i will recognise you upon my arrival. And don't forget to send your phone number!

Why doesn't he just get the phone number from our site?!

Bonjour,
Je suis Mr MELVIN BORO .
Pour nos congés j'aimerai effectuer une location.
Nous sommes au nombres de 2 personnes (Mon epouse et moi). Donnez moi s'il vous plait les disponibilités que vous avez pour une periode de deux mois
Ceci dit je désire vous spécifier que je compte vous regler par virement bancaire.Veuillez me communiquer votre RIB pour bloquer la reservation. Veuillez aussi nous repondre dès que possible s'il vous plait. Appelez moi pour plus d'informations
Cordialement.
M MELVIN BORO
TEL: (00225) 66608865
Ps:Communiquez moi svp votre photo que je puisse vous reconnaitre a mon arrivée
N'oubliez pas vos coordonnées telephoniques

Split from here -luckey

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:11 pm

Welcome Simonisthebest!

I agree that looks suspicious. If it's a scam, he will probably deposit funds into your account and then have a change of plans and ask you to wire money back to him. The transfer will be fraudulent and will be reversed when the bank discovers it.

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:18 pm

look verrrrrry suspicious. dont think it genuine. y he needs ur picture after all? Rolling Eyes

Hellish Taskmaster Joined: 31 Dec 2008 Posts: 537

Bank account details? He may take a bunch of cash out of your account. Demand that he pays like your regular customers do and see what happens.

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:26 am

Thanks for the tips guys.

I am just going to ignore this; probably won't be the last of these kind of mails i will recieve and i don't really want to waste my time on people who want to steal from me. Sending him a mail would just confirm to him that i'm stupid enough to fall for his trick...

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 11:47 am

You might want to familiarize yourself with the information on checking headers--while a few lads use gmail or proxies, many have not learned these tricks or feel they are unnecessary. When the sender is claiming to be from Europe or the US but the IP address shows somewhere in Africa, you can basically assume that it is a scam attempt.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 Mar 2009 Posts: 16

There's so many different styles of these scams, it seems all so overwhelming and confusing.

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:42 pm

^^ It can be confusing, and the lads prey on that.