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November 2005
Others too
Tourist accommodation scam
continues and clears question
of where their $$$ comes from
Our
www.VillagePRESS.co.nz website
has been located immediately on Goggle to help in world-wide Tourism scam...
Six months down the road from
the first reported scam email and we have the same (apparently) "Bali Tourist
agent"
and "Japanese client" have surfaced again, this time selecting a
B&B in Valdez, Alaska.. How the scammer gets his money is now clear, thanks to Melissa, who wrote:
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I'm in the middle of the exact same
negotiations with an "Andrea" with "AO ours and Travel" making arrangements for
Colonel Takada Ebisawa. While I regularly deal with overseas clients for my
B&B, some red flags have gone up in my mind with the last few days of
e-mails.....i.e. wanting me to send the travel agency a $350 "bonus" for her
orphanage. I was not going to do this, but had checked with my bank and the
credit card company about possible scams so was proceeding, but with caution.
I happened to Google "Colonel Takada
Ebisawa" and found your site.....the e-mails are identical with just a few
changes.
First, all the up front negotiations was
done by the "travel agent" then she asked me to contact the customer directly
for his payment info., which I did. He (the supposed Colonel Takada Ebisawa)
answered by e-mail last night, so I do have 2 players, supposedly.
Second, besides the request that I send the travel agent a $350 bonus for her
orphanage that I mentioned in the first e-mail (which raised a red flag to me)
he didn't ask what kind of credit cards I accepted, but he asked what BRAND of
credit card swiper I had, and proceeded to give me examples of four brands (Verifone,
Hypercom, Wireless Swiper or Nurit). This of course sent up a bigger red flag,
but may give a clue what they're up to.
My e-mail to him this morning requested his credit card number and his billing
name and address so I can verify the card.
I refused to send the $350 bonus and didn't give him my brand of credit
card machine....just which cards I accept. If I hear back from him/them, would
you like for me to forward his info. to you so whomever is looking into this has
that info?
The info. will probably be fake, but we have progressed further into
negotiations than the situation exampled on the website.
I can e-mail you any of the info you want or forward any of the e-mails....but
in essence the scam is still going on.
Thanks for posting it on your website.
Melissa's B&B
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And a further email today
explained what was happening in still more detail:
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After I e-mailed you
yesterday I did hear back from both "Andrea the travel agent" and "the
Colonel". The Colonel has sent me the first of two e-mails with his
credit card number and billing address in it.....so I do have some more
information on them....but I doubt if the billing address is correct,
although I did tell them I would need it in order to verify the credit
card.
My question is: How
are they using the credit card machine brand for their scam? I told them
I wouldn't send the commission until their money (non-refundable) was in
my bank......this was back early in the negotiations when I still thought
this was a valid booking. Now, I'm thinking they're going to give me a
valid credit card and billing information (not necessarily their own),
I'll verify it, funds will arrive in my account, then I'll send the
travel agent her commission, THEN they'll pull their funds out by
contesting the credit card bill. (which my credit card company said would
be a possiblity.) This little operation is only going to net them
$75 from me right now for their commission.....but they keep trying to get
me to put more money on this credit card......air fare, car rental,
bonuses, etc....even though I keep telling them I'm not handling that end
of their travel. If it's a stolen credit card it gets them a free trip I
guess, but I doubt if they're goint to show up in my little town in
Alaska.
Anyway, I do still
have them in play if anyone wants this info. Feel free to contact me.
Thanks again for the
website....it confirmed my suspicions. Feel free to give my link to my
website.....in case anyone's heading this way.
Melissa
Melissa's B&B
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Anyone with dealings similar to this is
asked to email
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