[Rocky]

Originally Posted by 2LeftFeet

He is going to pay for the 4 couples trip with HIS Visa card? Is this what I am reading???

Yeah-- OK. If there is a CC it's stolen.

Why aren't the couples paying for their own trip? What a nice travel agent. jajaja

Wanna buy a bridge?

DominicanBoy's link explains the scam.
Scam Warning for B&B Owners :: View topic - This is how the scam works

The end goal is to get the B&B owner to send money to the scammer. Typically, the scammer will make a booking and overpay for it with either a credit card or forged check. The scammer will request the balance sent somewhere, usually by Western Union. Remember, these scammers are creative and there are many variations on the scam.

The scam works like this:

The scammer will book a room(s) and claim to have no credit card to hold the room or will have a credit card. They will ask to send a bank draft/certified check/money order to pay for the room in advance or pay for it with a credit card. When the check arrives it will be for an amount greater than the value of the stay or they will ask you to charge the credit card for an amount greater than the value of the stay. The scammer will then request the balance sent to a third party (i.e. a car rental agency) or returned to the scammer.

Since the bank draft/certified check/money order is drawn on a foreign bank it may take up to 3 months to learn it is fraudulent. The B&B owner is now short the amount of the check/wire they sent the scammer and probably lost bookings since they held a room for the scammer. If the scammer paid by a credit card it is surely to be disputed by the actual card owner.

The Tells:

* Overseas/International: Typically the guest/agent/scammer will be overseas or out of country (UK, France...). The reason is authorities rarely pursue this kind of international crime.
* Urgent: The scammer will be acting in an urgent manner. And will be making bookings for dates near in the future.
* Long stays or lots of rooms: They will also want long stays and a lot of rooms. The scammer will also be very vague about the actual number of guest.
* No rate resistance: They will show little or no rate resistance.
* Flexible on dates: They will be flexible on dates of arrival/ departure and the number of nights booked.
* No interest in location: They don’t care about your location, they will express little or no interest in area attractions.
* Will not address your B&B by name in the first e-mail: The first e-mail you receive will not address your B&B specifically. It will be a general e-mail and may not even mention your town or state.
* Grammar, Spelling, and choice of words: The scammer's grammar, spelling and use of punctuation will be off. When you see the sample e-mails below you'll notice the spacing is off. "Agency,London" instead of "Agency, London" We copy them verbatim.
* Doctor's acting as travel agents: Often the scammer making the booking will present themselves as a doctor. There are two red flags associated with this. 1) Doctor's generally don't act as travel agents. 2) Doctor's, especially from England, should have a better command of the English language.
* Free e-mail account: The e-mail will come from a free e-mail service like Yahoo! or Hotmail. Legitimate travel agents rarely use free e-mail accounts. Note: One scammer has created a front called Varsatile Vincent Travel Agency and sends e-mails from hotel@varsatilevincent.info or reservations@varsatilevincent.info see Elvis Borrow.