Hotel Scams

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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:10 am

Via work I control the email system and see a lot of scum coming past but one lately is coming through specifically orientated to the hotel/spa side of the organisation...

It's a booking scam on a bad credit card or something similar..

I dont have the time to play them, and havent tried them..

Is this one a commonly known scam?

(I have educated the staff well now.. they come to me first)

Anyone tried baiting these MOFO's? Are they pretty soft in the head or are they like the lotto lads?

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:30 am

it will be a booking which is later cancelled and a refund requested using MG or WU

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:30 am

They're not as common as some scams, possibly because they are targeted at hotels, etc, rather than spammed out at random.The lad will pay by a fake check or stolen credit card, then cancel or partly cancel the reservation and ask for a repayment by WU.

There are some examples here www.scamorama.com/reservations.html

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:35 am

Thought as such, anyone want some? I get a few a day... I'm guessing they're a pretty standard AFF.

The internet nazi at our business (me) is a bit rough on personal internet usage so I have to send them to my personal account then forward them on..

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:46 pm

please send me a few - i'd like to try them out.
you can pm them or <better> email them to me at

Code:

r2d2.419 at gmail.com

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:47 pm

r2d2: you aren't using that as a baiting address, are you?

419Eater is my life Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 479

I've received two applications to work for a hotel from two different hotels each with identical formatting and colors. Naturally I applied for the CEO position with unimaginably poor grammar. After half a dozen rounds I have been awarded the position without having to volunteer any personal information. I'm waiting to hear details about my signing bonus.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:22 am

Okay, I just logged into the work terminal server and extracted one..

Would be intere3sting to see if anyone gets anywhere with these ones...

Dear Sir/Ma,

My name is Nelson David I will like to know if you can accommodate our clients willing to come to your country. We want to enquire from you if you can make the booking for our clients who are willing to come your country for Honey Moon.

Below is there Details:-

Room Type: 3 Double Rooms

Check in: 10th/07/ 2009
Check out: 15th/07/ 2009

Number of guest... 6.
Names of the Couples: 1)Mr and Mrs Terry
2)Mr and Mrs Keith
3)Mr and Mrs John

Kindly get back to me Asap with the Total cost of the booking and there airport transfer with breakfast, Dinner and Tax. As soon as I receive the Total cost I will forward to you our company credit card account details along with the authorization letter dully signed by the credit card owner for the full payment.

I will be looking forward to read from you soon.

Best Regards
Nelson David .
Reservation Manager

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:58 am

Suggestion; don't mask everything - just details such as names, phone numbers and the like. Masking the whole letter ain't good bandwidth-wise.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:01 am

Done - sorry I've had a few glasses of moonshine (hot fohen wind here).

419Eater is my life Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 479

I'm sure I can help him get the accommodations he deserves... after he fills out some proof of marriage forms, agrees to a mass wedding and participates in some local customs. Hopefully they have already been tested for HIV.. I cannot risk communicating his diseases to other guests.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:44 am

Dorothy wrote:

r2d2: you aren't using that as a baiting address, are you?

no, i set up new gmail accounts for my characters.
when i see the scammers emails, i'll decide who i'll be, and how to play it

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:40 pm

Kickstart wrote:

It's a booking scam on a bad credit card or something similar..

Is this one a commonly known scam?

Happened to be talking to a Bed & Breakfast operator recently about Nigerian scams and they brought up the one you mention. Apparently it is getting worse with the current economic times. She hasn't been taken yet, but has to put more effort into verifying reservations than she'd ever care to. Yet another soft cost of these idiots and their creativity.

I gave her this websites addy and encouraged her to enjoy some creative fun dished out in turn.

Regards,

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:56 pm

And another one... You can see how they waste time, there are a few coming in every day...

Subject: Hotel Reservation.......................................
Message-Id: <[email protected]>

Date: 24:04:2009

Dear Sirs,

Kindly confirm back to me if you have any space for me and my Wife in your
Hotel..To below dated..(2 PEOPLE) My Partner and myself

Check-in (Date) ..8/May/2009

CHECK OUT (Date) ..30/May/2009

Quote the price and the condition,if available,kindly calculate the all
Nights.

And also let me know the credit card type you welcome for payment.

Thanks for your anticipated business relationship and cooperation.

Best Regards

Tinuola Saliu

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

Hi Kickstart:

We were approached by this Nigerian scammer you are mentioning. She wanted us to bill her a whole amount. It didnt matter where in the country the hotel was as we gave her two options. Very fishy, so tried calling her and of course the telephone line in the UK had been suspended. When we insinuated that we had charged her the amount (which we had NOT) she replied with the last of the below emails. She has here given her bank account this time and not only a wester union. Is there anything you can do something to catch her? The card details obviously are a stolen card or something so is there anyone who knows how to report this to the authorities?

----- Original Message -----
From: Tinuola Saliu <[email protected]>
To:
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:54:37 +0100
Subject: Re: Hotel Reservation.........................

Good Morning Juan,

How has your day been so far? Well for me it has been hectic i got
huge family problem. I just got back from an urgent call from my
family Dr. I have just been diagnosed with skin Cancer along with
Hepatitis B which in turn has gotten me terrified..unfortunately on my
way to the park yesterday; i was shocked to find out that my car was
missing from where I parked it, while doing shopping for the
preparation to come to your hotel at a close by Mall.

Am due to start attending my treatment sessions immediately, as such I
would not be able to make it for my stay at your hotel again.For this
reason, I would employ you to kindly cancel my booking/Reservation
with your hotel and have my refund processed

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this might cause to your
hotel ,i hope to use your hotel in the next time and i do understand
that you have been holding the reservations for some weeks now and
might attract a cancellation fee and transfer fee as such. Therefore;
kindly transfer my money less the cancellation fee to my account
since my credit card wallet was in my car when it got stolen. I have
contacted my Bank to stop any activity on my Credit card for now until
I get a replacement :Here's my Account to make my refund

Name of Bank:NAT WEST Bank of the United Kingdom
IBAN::: GB09NWBK60053724042196
Account Name: Tinuola Saliu
Sort Code: 60-05-37
Account Number: 24-04-21-96
BIC:Swift Code: NWBKGB2L

6 avenue crescent,Walker, Ne6 3hz, Newcastle, United
Kingdom,07596757295

I do hope we will be able to use your hotel in future anytime we are
to come over there, kindly fax a copy of the transfer receipt directly
to my office in order to confirm my refunds. My fax numbers are :
448704908633, thanks and expecting your soonest response today.

Have a wonderful weekend with your family.

Yours Apologetically
Tinola Saliu

On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 9:58 AM, Tinuola Saliu
<[email protected]:

Dear Juan,

This is to confirm the receipt of your email as regards the charge
you made to my Master card, thanks for the booking made and i
believe a lovely hospitality await my family over there with
you.Thank you for the booking at Andorra..Kindly go ahead and charge
the remaining 80%..I will be waiting for the receipt of the
payment..I will let you know about our arrival time as soon as
possible so that you can receive us .Once again thanks and do have a lovely day.Have a wonderful week.

Thanks

Best Regards,
Tinuola Saliu

On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 1:16 AM, andorra
wrote:

Hi Tinuola,

According to your specifications, we have reserved an apartment for
you in Andorra from June 25th to july 24th, using your card for
prepayment costs of 20%.

Since you haven't specified your desired apartment, we have
reserved 2
apartments: Shusski and Casa Vella. Please write us asap to confirm
which one of the two you would prefer for your stay and we'll send
you the confirmation invoice asap. This is essential so reservation
is fully effective and to send you the address details, etc.

Looking forward to hear from you and have you as our guests in Andorra.
Best regards,

Juan

----- Original Message -----
From: Tinuola Saliu <[email protected]
To:
Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 06:01:05 +0100
Subject: Re: Hotel Reservation.........................

My address. 6 avenue crescent walker Ne6 3hz Newcastle United
Kingdom
07908874674 Thanks Saliu

On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 11:50 PM, Tinuola Saliu
<[email protected]:

Dear Juan,

Thank you for the offer,I appreciate your message,The
reservation Quotation is clear.Go ahead and make the booking
reservation as a prepayment.Below are the details of my Credit
Ca rd...Make the full charges..OF €1.380,6 euro. for the whole
stay including tax an
cleaning
fee...Kindly let me have the receipt and the invoice.Send the
receipt
by
Email or via my fax after you done.Here's my fax
448704908633.Have a wonderful week.

€1.380,6 euro.
Name on Card..Tinuola Saliu
Card type...MASTER CARD
Card Number....5528 xxxx 1292 xxxx Expire Date..11/09
Cvv..xxx

While waiting for your reply,for the

receipt Confirmation.

Best Regards
Tinuola Saliu

On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 11:19 PM,

Hi Tinuola,

Thanks for contacting us!

Yes we do accept MasterCard as payment card. Our secure online system
accepts all usual credit cards.

Best regards,

Juan

----- Original Message -----
From: Tinuola Saliu <[email protected]
To:

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:05:17 +0100
Subject: Re: Hotel Reservation.........................

Sorry for the late message toward your reply..I just want to know
if you
accept master credit card for prepayment ?

On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 1:28 PM,

Dear Tinuola,

Thanks for contacting us!

Yes, we have apartments available for the dates of your stay in
several
different aparthotels in Andorra.

You can check our the following properties: Encamp Shusski and
Casa
Vella.
Both are available and have the same rates. Please choose
depending on
your preferences and we'll help you with the rest!

Base price for the total stay would be 1.840,8 euro. However, if
you
book
during the next 3 days you'll get a 25% discount as early
booking.
That
is: you'd pay just 1.380,6 euro!

For getting that 25% discount, please confirm your interest in
any of
these
apartments and we'll set up a special promo ticket for you to use
while
booking.

We look forward hearing from you and having you as our guests in
Andorra!

Best regards,

Juan

----- Original Message -----
From: Tinuola Saliu <[email protected]
To:

Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:48:10 -0500
Subject: Hotel Reservation.........................

Dear Sirs,

Kindly confirm back to me if you have any space for me and my
Wife
in
your Hotel..The date are stated as below..(2 PEOPLE) My Partner
and
myself

Check-in (Date) ..25/June/2009

CHECK OUT (Date) ..24/July/2009

Quote the price and the condition,if available,kindly calculate
the
all
Nights.
And also let me know the credit card type you welcome for
payment.
Thanks for your anticipated business relationship and
cooperation.

Best Regards
Tinuola Saliu

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 1:49 pm

Hi renatabracuhy, Welcome to Eater! I sent the bank info over to Alan. He deals with closing the bank accounts of scammers. Please PM the credit card details to one of our Moderators.

Also please edit your post to take out any of your own personal details. (like your name).

Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:48 am

Hi guys both card and bank account are now in the system.

train boi Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 697

If anyone has any of these hotel scams they would like to share, Please PM me the address and opening letter

Quote:

I just got back from an urgent call from my
family Dr. I have just been diagnosed with skin Cancer along with
Hepatitis B which in turn has gotten me terrified

If skin cancer wasn't bad enough, the lad contracted Hepatitis B, Please be brave! Hold on tight You'll be fine

Quote:

..unfortunately on my
way to the park yesterday; i was shocked to find out that my car was
missing from where I parked it, while doing shopping for the
preparation to come to your hotel at a close by Mall.

Now either she is the most unluckiest person in the world and you can't leave anything anywhere these days, Or she is high on drugs YOU decide Razz

I love lad stories

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

Hi all:
This is her follow up email. Very energetic for having skin cancer and hepatitis... Read below and enjoy her stupidities:

Dear Juan,

Good Afternoon,I just want to know if you received my cancellation
message and also to know if you have done the transfer to my Account as was stated ?
Kindly let me know as soon as possible Have a good day.

Best Wishes
Tinuola Saliu

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:05 am

In my experience, hotel scams also like to prey on vacation home owners who (try to) rent out their property when not in use. My family has a small beach house in the BWI and I'd say we get 1-2 such letters every 6 months from the sites we advertise on. Not so many recently, and I've found all of them have been pretty hard to bait (with a new name, new address, etc). Just couldn't get them off script or delay things even with perfectly straight questions about what kind of rooms they wanted, etc.... (never mind getting to the stage of telling them we have to change their booking dates or move them to the annex because of construction).

Btw - NotPhil, this kind of scam is is a credit card overpayment thing and is different from the hotel employment scam you mention.

An amusing example of a hotel bait is here: http://www.scamorama.com/noogie_favour.html. How on earth the baiter got the lad to play along like this is beyond me except to say that some lads really are 'special'....

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:33 am

Hey Renta - glad you know how to google ay? It's jsut a series of scripts they send out, "Copy & Paste" scamming - you clearly thought a bit about it before going further...

Us baiters, set up fake email accounts that cant be traced and then pick on them... the trick is to stop them using the scripts and encourage them to think they're clever and scam you even more effectively Twisted Evil

@Jay, If I have the time tomorrow I'll go through the filters and dig some out!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

Hi again all!

I will keep pasting her pesistent pursue of "regaining" HER money (which never was paid of course)
Now she is threatening with authorities..... Damn, is she dumb!! Pure monkeyness!!!

> Dear Sirs,
>
> 3rd sending
>
> I am are still awaiting for your reply. Kindly response as soon as
> possible.My Bank told me that you have the money in your Account as at
> 5 days days ago..Also let me know if you received my cancellation
> message..I will contact an Authority if i did not hear from you in
> this week
>
> Regards
> Tinuola Saliu
>

Not quite a Newb Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 46

^
Its probably a nonexistent credit card and the lad damn well knows there was no payment, but is expecting you to be dumb enough to believe him/her, and/or be scared enough from the threat of authorities to comply. Still dumb, but less dumb than you think. Still, she seems to have enough time on her hands between chemo and the diarrhea and flu of Hepatitis to keep asking if you've repaid her.

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:40 pm

She's keen to get her money, because the longer it takes, the more the chance that the owner of the stolen credit card she used will notice the fraudulent transaction and report it.

As soon as that happens and the money is clawed back from the hotel, the scam is up and they won't get the money.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 46

Of course, a more fun way to mess with her would be to claim that there was a recent rash of fraudulent charges made so the hotel had to revise their cancellation policy, which now states all sales are final and no returns can be made. Since the policy just went into effect recently the web designers haven't had time to put the new policy on the site. See how long she goes with trying to negotiate the return of her money and how many threats of legal action she throws.