How to deal with annoying scam bookings?

[Razorbill RIBs]

I seem to get a lot of these sort of emails for the business lately........

"Hello,
I want to make a reservation onbehalf of my Chinese friends because they can't speak or write good English....They will be coming into your country for their first Pre-Season vacation visit.
They are just two (2) couples
*Mr & Mrs Po Chui Yang (41 and 36yrs)
*Mr & Mrs Fuhua Shirong(44 and 38yrs)
They want you to prepare a 7 days tour package and accommodation for them, They are from Hong Kong and are willing to accept and pay for your offer.
*Arrival Date :1st September, 2010
*Departure Date :7th September, 2010
*Number Of Days : 7
*Number Of Guests : 4
Confirm availability and get back to me with your rates and total cost of your rooms and services, So that i can send you my Credit Card for immediate deposit. Waiting for your reply.

Regards
James Carl."

I tend to ignore them, but is there anything else I should /could be doing to deter them??

I look forward to any suggestions

Dan

[BogMonster]

I get them too, but I don't know what the scam is? Usually when I tell them our hotel closed 18 months ago that is the end of it

[Nasher]

I believe the way the scam works is you receive a cheque cashed on a foreign bank which appears to clear straight away but in reality can take up to 6 weeks to clear properly.

In the mean time they contact you and say they have had a family crisis etc and cannot now come. They ask if you will refund just 25 or 50% or so of the original monies.
You then send them the money, the original cheque eventualy turns out to be a dud and your bank withdraws the funds again.

At this point of course you are down to the value of what you refunded and they can't be contacted.

QED

Nasher.

[neilda]

Dear James

Thank you for choosing our hotel.

I am delighted to confirm the reservations for Mr & Mrs Po Chui Yang and Mr & Mrs Fuhua Shirong. Our room rate is £275 per room, a total of £3,300 + VAT.

Please send a non-refundable deposit of 50%.

Kind regards

Usain Bin-Done.
General Manager

[TonyC]

I recieved this one on Monday:

Hello,
I want to book for a RYA Sailing Course for 7 people who will be coming into the country for 1 week from the 10TH AUGUST 2010 TO 18th AUGUST 2010. Please kindly confirm the booking for us with cost/deposit required to fully secure the dates.

Best Regards
Joe Cross
www.glycornenergyservices.com

[Razorbill RIBs]

Originally Posted by TonyC

I recieved this one on Monday:

Thanks Guys....

Nasher, thanks for the explanation re scam

Usain Bin-done...

[willk]

I get these. I just ignore them, life's too short to be arsed

I suspect that they tend to target small/new businesses with an online presence. B&B's, for example. The offer of loadsa money can blind an otherwise sensible person to the risks.

If you're bored and a bit dodge yourself, you could try fishing for a bit of "seed" money - eg an "Authorisation Payment" of 2.5% made by Paypal prior to the booking being accepted, your terms being a 75% refund of the main payment if cancelled more than seven days prior to arrival

Of course, you have to ask yourself if you could sleep at night, having pinched $20 off an almost destitute Ghanian scammer.

(I could)

[m chappelow]

my daughter knows a guy that had a similar email ,he decided to play the game and see how far it would go, replyed and within a week he recived his cheque took it to his bank and cashed it ,next day the bank tempory closed down his account whilst investigations took hold so looks like the banks maybe are onto this type of thing .

also and not from abroad are the letters sent out by debt recovery firms stating that persons are owing money usually perhaps a hundred quid or so and that its going up all the time with court costs ,soliciters fees ect , even though that you may not owe or have had any form of credit in your entire life ,usually your details are from a mailing list ,the pretence is that even if you dont owe any money there will be someone out there that will pay up to save hassle ,,funny that when challenged and the details of the debt are asked for the recovery firms cannot bring up the origi nal contract .

[Brian]

There is a question that I have always wanted an answer to, but have never asked of anyone who “knows” the answer. I get different replies from different people, and perhaps, this is not the place to ask it ! But here goes anyway.

Let us suppose you get an invoice from one of your regular suppliers (gas, electricity etc.) which you know absolutely to be wrong. You ring the call centre, explain, they promise to get back to you, but never do. This happens several times until you are sick with trying. Even writing to them is no use at all.
The next thing you know is a phone call/letter from a debt collection agency demanding payment. You explain again. They say pay up or else. This also happens a few times and the threats grow.

Now, my question is about the “or else” bit. Can a debt collection agency:
-enter your house? No, they cant-not without trickery.
-put you on a credit risk agency-etc. Without going to court? Without your knowing about it?
In other words, without your being notified, can they take further action? And what exactly is that action?

[chris123]

Originally Posted by Brian

Now, my question is about the “or else” bit. Can a debt collection agency:
-enter your house? No, they cant-not without trickery.
-put you on a credit risk agency-etc. Without going to court? Without your knowing about it?
In other words, without your being notified, can they take further action? And what exactly is that action?

I think the exact phraseology is 'they cannot force entry' on a first visit - the usual approach is trickery, however according to a BBC News item the other day they can also gain access through an open door / window if there is one. Once they have gained access the first time they then have free access.

I don't know about court, I would assume you would have to be notified of a court date but I could be wrong.

By the time the debt collection agency is called in, you will most likely already have a default entered on your credit report. Some years ago I was working out in the USA and without realising went over the credit limit on my mobile phone. The bill got paid on time by direct debit, so I thought no more about it until I did a routine check on my credit report and found they had marked the bill down as a default .

Cheers

Chris

[boristhebold]

Originally Posted by Brian

There is a question that I have always wanted an answer to, but have never asked of anyone who “knows” the answer. I get different replies from different people, and perhaps, this is not the place to ask it ! But here goes anyway.

Let us suppose you get an invoice from one of your regular suppliers (gas, electricity etc.) which you know absolutely to be wrong. You ring the call centre, explain, they promise to get back to you, but never do. This happens several times until you are sick with trying. Even writing to them is no use at all.
The next thing you know is a phone call/letter from a debt collection agency demanding payment. You explain again. They say pay up or else. This also happens a few times and the threats grow.

Now, my question is about the “or else” bit. Can a debt collection agency:
-enter your house? No, they cant-not without trickery.
-put you on a credit risk agency-etc. Without going to court? Without your knowing about it?
In other words, without your being notified, can they take further action? And what exactly is that action?

I had one of those letters from a debt collection agency referring to a mobile phobe bill, the phone in question I hadn't used for over a year and had cancelled the contract (or so I thought) I spoke to the agency asking them to get 'orange' to send me a full detailled statement of what I owed and why ? 5 montsh later still wiaitng for it and the agency never got back in touch so I expect 'orange' relaised their mistake, didn't bother contacting me to apologise though. Alot of letters from debt collection agencies are designed to scare you to death, very nasty, when you ask them to provide details etc they are in many cases just incorrect due to bad billing etc.

[Brian]

Thanks Boris.

[captainpugwash]

Originally Posted by boristhebold

I had one of those letters from a debt collection agency referring to a mobile phobe bill, the phone in question I hadn't used for over a year and had cancelled the contract (or so I thought) I spoke to the agency asking them to get 'orange' to send me a full detailled statement of what I owed and why ? 5 montsh later still wiaitng for it and the agency never got back in touch so I expect 'orange' relaised their mistake, didn't bother contacting me to apologise though. Alot of letters from debt collection agencies are designed to scare you to death, very nasty, when you ask them to provide details etc they are in many cases just incorrect due to bad billing etc.

I have also had a letter from a debt collection agency regarding a former Orange phone contract that I had.
It was in 2001 and all paid by direct debit.
I have asked for copies of the final bill and the contract.
I am still waiting.
I have proof that all was paid so no worries.
I have also had a similar letter about an Abbey National Loan that I had in 2001 (now owned by Santander of course).
I also have a letter from the bank confirming full early repayment.
They will look very silly if they take me to court when I have all the proof I need and they will not listen.
It smacks of bully boy tactics and I fear that some people will simply pay rather than stand up and fight.

[paul holder]

hi if you think the request is genuine then get then to bacs the money to your account .that way you have the money up front.the other way is to say we do not give refunds but trips in luie they will not reply

[DGR]

Originally Posted by neilda

Dear James

Thank you for choosing our hotel.

I am delighted to confirm the reservations for Mr & Mrs Po Chui Yang and Mr & Mrs Fuhua Shirong. Our room rate is £275 per room, a total of £3,300 + VAT.

Please send a non-refundable deposit of 50%.

Kind regards

Usain Bin-Done.
General Manager

Don't do that!! The way the scam works is a follows:

- You get an enquiry which sounds promising - long stays out of season etc (for some reason, several Chinese couples honeymooning together, or Greek Priests going to a convention).

- You reply with the info they ask for - telling them what deposit they need to pay etc.

- You get a reply back really quickly, saying that they'll take the booking, and to take the money from their cedit card - details attached - and whilst you are there, can you also charge the card for the car hire, and send the money directly to the car hire company's bank account (or the interpreter, or whatever third party they think sounds convincing).

- You take your deposit, and send the money to the car hire people (or whatever) - via a wire transfer (Western Union Bank is popular for this).

- The card details are stolen. The payment you took is queried, and found to be fraudulent - so you get a chargeack on your card account.

The wire transfer you did will be untraceable, and goes back to the scammer, so they get the money for the 'car hire' etc, the person who's card they used gets their money back, and as the person/business that took the money - you (effectively) end up paying the scammer.

Incase you're wondering, I wasn't caught out, but was bored one November morning when I got an e-mail asking for 30 days accomodation for 7 Greek Priests attending a conference in Barmouth (!!). So I decided to play with the idiot - I told him I'd take the accomodation deposit - but couldn't do the rest - and he vanished!!

(If a group of 7 Greek priests actually did want to come on holiday to the UK, they'd be f***ed!!)