weird situation with atm or credit card-phishing scam or ineptitude

[orchidlady]

I received the notification below twice from a hotel booking site I have only used used a few times--usually I use Agoda or booking.com(and after this will continue to use only them). The dates they are referencing is for stays March and April of this year. As this is SIX-SEVEN MONTHS AFTER MY DATE OF STAY, I figured it was some phishing type scam (many publicized large scale hacking of retail firms websites have been all over the news) because the vouchers I received by email the day after booking said payment was received ...and ignored it. I got a followup phone call about this asking if I received the emails a few days ago while I was in the middle of a meeting (I had forgotten to turn off my phone), I asked what card they had tried to re-bill and didn't get an answer so I hung up.

"Due to changes and enhancements to the payment system at the time of your booking, your credit card has not been charged for the amount of xxxx for your stay at [hotel name] . Please send your credit card details [and there is a link to click]." They are asking for payment of around 12,000 baht total for the two stays..

I don't even know what card(s) were used for these two reservations. Until five months ago, I had two overseas ATM cards and two overseas credit cards that have since expired.Two of the 4 banks where I had atm/credit cards were sold or merged with another bank subsequently. I don't have a way to verify whether the charges were made or not without contacting the banks and running up a lot of fees to check for the entire 5 month period. .I don't have internet banking for these accounts as they were only used two or three times a year due to high fees. I haven't been home for several years and my mom manages these accounts. She shredded the statements after payment was reflected on the next statement.

My local Thai atm card had to be replaced due to fraudulent activity on my account after the dates of these.stays so not sure if I used that. I get an sms when charge is made and check to make sure it's for a legitimate charge but wouldn't know this far after if charge didn't go through supposing I had used that atm card. I only have the old emails saved giving me the vouchers stating payment was received and no cc details are on the vouchers.

Has any one ever had a merchant legitimately try to claim credit card payment due to not processing the credit card? If this is a legitimate request it is hard to believe that one months payments were not processed and that i was the only one this had happened to.

[RandomSand]

Did they send a bill in the mail or just use telecommunications to contact you ?

I think they would send a letter if they were legitimate.

Edited November 9, 2014 by RandomSand

[mgjackson69]

This most surely is a scam.

If you see where the link goes, I suspect it is nothing to do with any hotel.

[orchidlady]

they sent emails and then the one phone call. I don

t want to click on any link in the email.

[Soutpeel]

Scam..certainly

[CNXSTEVE]

Please send your credit card details [and there is a link to click].

The very thing UK banks tell you never to do

[fletchsmile]

I had a similar problem with Asiawebdirect earlier this year - around easter time - April

They had some problem with their booking system, and it was a couple of months later after my holiday when we ended up sorting out the payment on my credit card. Mine was made more complicated as there had been a fraud attempt on my old credit card I had booked with. The bank had picked it up, blocked my card, and issued another one. Unconnected events, but it meant they couldn't reprocess the old card details.

I knew the payment hadn't gone thru though, as it was around 50k so easy to know that amount had been missing from my statements and hadn't been paid from my monthly direct debit. I'd even contacted them before about it, as I was worried my reservation wasn't valid. They confirmed my reservation was valid, so I just waited for them to get back with the request for payment. That was a couple of months later.

I double checked all my visa transactions online to check I hadn't paid, then called back to the Asiawebb number I made the booking thru. i.e didn't simply use the one on the email, but went back to the original booking contacts to make sure. After a few checks both side, turns out it was all above board and just some problem they had had, so I gave some new credit card details.

Not sure if that helps. But it does happen.

Cheers

Fletch

[scorecard]

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they sent emails and then the one phone call. I don

t want to click on any link in the email.

1. E.mails are not secure, anybody can make an e-mail look like it came from a hotel or booking company etc. This is why banks don't usually communicate with clients by e.mail.

2. Can you ask the person / company which has contacted you requesting payment to give you the number on the card they say wasn't processed, or perhaps the expiry date or perhaps the 3 number security code, or even the name of the issuing bank of the credit card. Surely one of these numbers would be a clue for you to identify what credit card they are claiming wasn't actually processed. If they can't give you any of these details then smell a rat.

3. Maybe tell this 'agency' that you are not convinced and you require a letter from their lawyers.

Edited November 10, 2014 by scorecard

[phetphet]

Google "booking.com hacked".

A lot of personal information has been stolen by hackers.

[ToddinChonburi]

I think the simple ? is , Did you pay this bill already first. Then all you need to do is call your credit card company and report this to the fraud department. ASAP

[mgjackson69]

they sent emails and then the one phone call. I don

t want to click on any link in the email.

Sorry, I was not clear.

Surely do *not* click on the link. But if you mouse over the link, depends on the browser, you should see the URL displayed somewhere on your screen. Google Chrome will be in the lower left of your browser window, for example.