The BBB serving east Texas has alerted us of a scam that is plaguing local hotels and their guests, and while we haven’t received any local reports, we wanted to apprise you of the situation. Scammers are obtaining credit card information from hotel guests over the phone.
The calls are typically made in the middle of the night. The caller indicates they are a hotel employee, and the hotel computer system has crashed. In order to complete the hotel audit, they must have your credit card number. Many times, the caller also offers a discount on the room for the inconvenience. These callers are very convincing, and many hotel guests fall for this scam.
Whether the scam artist is actually a guest in the hotel or whether the calls are coming from outside the hotel and has obtained the direct number to each room has not yet been determined.
If you own or work at a hotel, please alert your hotel guests of this scam, and if you are a hotel guest, remember not to provide credit card information over the phone during your stay. If there is ever a problem with billing, the hotel staff will handle it at the front desk and not over the phone.
