Don’t Fall For This Scam During Your Next Hotel Stay

I recently saw some information about a scam posted by the Knob Noster Fire Department on their Facebook page. I'm sharing this news with you because it's a little different than the typical scam, and I think it's one we could fall for.

When you check into a hotel you have to present a credit or debit card the hotel can charge your incidentals on. It's the standard check-in procedure at this point. This process gives scammers the perfect opportunity to try and separate you from your cash by pretending they're a hotel front desk person and getting ahold of your credit or debit card number.

The scam works like this. You check in and everything goes fine. You get your key card, head to your room, and settle in. At some point, you receive a call on the hotel phone in your room, and someone who sounds professional identifies themself as a hotel employee and says there was a problem at check-in and that they need your credit card number again along with the three-digit code on the back of your card.

Except it's not what you think. Scammers have called the hotel and they randomly have asked to be connected to a specific room number. When the hotel operator connects the scammer to your room, that's when they pretend to be a hotel employee and get you to reveal your credit or debit card number and the three-digit security code on the back of your card.

The solution is simple, if you ever receive a call like that, tell whoever you are on the phone with that you'll come down to the front desk to clear any problem up. Then, either walk down to the front desk or call the front desk and ask them if there's a problem. If there is a legitimate problem, clear it up. If not, inform the front desk that someone was trying to scam you by pretending to be a hotel employee on the phone.

It's an easy scam to fall for. Because how many times do we even use the house phone at a hotel anymore? Probably, in the age of cell phones, not very often. So who else would call you on it except the front desk or room service, right? That's one of the reasons it's easy to trust the person on the other end.

So do yourself a favor, if there's a problem and someone calls needing your credit card number or debit card number for your hotel stay. Solve it at the front desk, or make sure you're truly on the phone with the front desk person before you give any information that can separate you from your money.