02-14-2011, 07:28 AM
I maintain websites for a few VRBO accounts. Just recently one of them was getting scammed and I informed them of it. We are not quite sure how the scam was going to work but I recommended they cut the potential customer off and do not reply to them.
It started when a customer was trying to use a credit card to leave a one night deposit for a week stay. The credit card was denied due to an incorrect billing address. The owner had several phone calls and e-mails with the customer and felt they were legit. So I had them try a different website and credit card gateway to see if the other gateway would accept the card. It didn't. Then overnight the customer attempted to use numerous credit cards all using the same billing address. Each card was denied for the same reason. Eventually one card went thru and the customer told the owner they would bring cash for the remainder of the days when they came out and pay them at that time. What was suspicious was the one card that went thru had a different billing address in Washington State. The customer claimed they were in Canada. Their IP address was in Chicago. The billing addresses were businesses that when called didn't know who the credit card holder was. Twelve different cards were tried so I blocked their access and the owner refunded the deposit and reported them to VRBO.
Not sure how the scam was going to work but even the owners can get scammed thru VRBO.
Ka'u Web
Ka'u Blog
Ka'u Homes
Pohue Bay
Kona Forum
Dream Kona
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Da Kine Web Design
It started when a customer was trying to use a credit card to leave a one night deposit for a week stay. The credit card was denied due to an incorrect billing address. The owner had several phone calls and e-mails with the customer and felt they were legit. So I had them try a different website and credit card gateway to see if the other gateway would accept the card. It didn't. Then overnight the customer attempted to use numerous credit cards all using the same billing address. Each card was denied for the same reason. Eventually one card went thru and the customer told the owner they would bring cash for the remainder of the days when they came out and pay them at that time. What was suspicious was the one card that went thru had a different billing address in Washington State. The customer claimed they were in Canada. Their IP address was in Chicago. The billing addresses were businesses that when called didn't know who the credit card holder was. Twelve different cards were tried so I blocked their access and the owner refunded the deposit and reported them to VRBO.
Not sure how the scam was going to work but even the owners can get scammed thru VRBO.
Ka'u Web
Ka'u Blog
Ka'u Homes
Pohue Bay
Kona Forum
Dream Kona
Da Kine Hosting
Da Kine Web Design