Patrick Johnes

Post scam emails to warn other rental owners, or if you are not sure if an enquiry is genuine, put it up here and see what others think.
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PW in Polemi
Posts: 1781
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:23 am
Location: A village in Paphos, Cyprus

Patrick Johnes

Post by PW in Polemi »

Not an email scam. Maybe not even a scam at all. Buuuut ....

This guy phoned this afternoon, purporting to be from Trip Advisor. He offered to set up an account for us instantly, there and then, and take all the details from our listing on HA. He was offering the basic HL package but with no restrictions on payment terms and we'd be paid straight away.

In order for this Patrick Johnes to do all the hard work for us, all we had to do was provide some personal details such as bank account details. :shock:

Well, OH's scamdar was well and truly twitching by this time. OH asked for the phone number so that, after certain unspecified security checks had been carried out by us, OH could ring Patrick Johnes back.

Surprise, surprise, on Googling the number, it turns out to be that of a London bridalwear shop.

So I guess we're not going to be put on TA then :roll: - but what exactly was the scam :?:
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Sam V
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Location: Villa in Gale, Algarve, Portugal. At home in Fetcham, Surrey, UK
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Post by Sam V »

Did he just want bank account details or debit details? Does sound a little odd as he wouldn't be able to do much with it, other than pay into your account??
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Zorba
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Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:41 am
Location: Agios Dimitrianos Paphos Cyprus
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Post by Zorba »

The number he gave us and the number on the mobile were the same and belong to a bridal wear shop in London.

He said he would just transfer our HA page to Trip Advisor if I gave him the details. I guess the intention is to get access from HA website to divert bookings and payments to a scam.
(once you have the email you are halfway to gaining account access)
While what he was initially offering was the HL free package, he then added a few extras - like you get paid straight away and get all the guest details to accept or not.

In the back of my mind I was thinking would it be ethical or ever legal to take a complete listing from HA and transfer it to TA. How easy would it be - (different formats etc) and would one big company do this to another and risk legal action.

Simple answer is NO, so watch out.
Zorba
Posts: 200
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:41 am
Location: Agios Dimitrianos Paphos Cyprus
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Post by Zorba »

Update on Patrick Jones (with Indian accent)

He phoned us again, unaware he had phoned before.

So I asked him why his phone number was a bridal shop in London
- that threw him. :D He said I could phone that number later if I wished.

So I then asked him why Trip Advisor had never heard of him and don't do cold calling. (Honest I have not phoned TA, but I wanted to hear his reaction.)

His answer was "your choice" and he hung up.
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