Unable to use Holiday Lettings payment method

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.
ronsat
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:03 am
Location: Neffiès, Languedoc, France
Contact:

Unable to use Holiday Lettings payment method

Post by ronsat »

I received the following enquiry through Holiday Lettings - and am wondering if this just a scam to get my banking info:

1. Hi I attempted to book Libellule from July 11 to July 18. It was listed as available at these dates. There was a hitch with the payment, however, and now the dates are listed as not available. Is it possible for you to check whether it is my booking that has come through, or whether someone else beat me to it? If there is a problem with the payment, I will rectify this as soon as I receive confirmation on the booking. Sincerely <name>

I thought this a little strange, as I had not received anything, and those dates are clearly available on the calendar. So, I sent my usual reply, indicating that they could pay be Paypal or by wiring to my account. I received the following message:

Hi Susan and Peter I tried again to use TripAdvisor's payment method, and failed. We really want to stay at Libellule from July 11 to July 18, so if you send me the information I need, I can deposit the money directly to your bank account. Sincerely <name>

So - am I just being paranoid, or is this a way of getting by French banking info. If they did get my banking info, is there a way that they could abuse it?
We are Canadians who love spending time in Languedoc.
http://www.languedocvacationhome.ca
Zorba
Posts: 200
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:41 am
Location: Agios Dimitrianos Paphos Cyprus
Contact:

Post by Zorba »

The method we use is to ask every potential guest for their full names of their party as they appear on the passports, sex (sometimes age range if in doubt) the leaders home address and phone number.
Again if in doubt we do various internet checks and phone if needed.

Then we do the contract giving the bank details.

As extra security the address my bank uses is different to the one on our contract.

Not much risk if you do it this way.
Marks
Posts: 2930
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:16 am
Location: Costa Blanca

Post by Marks »

I had this problem. For some reason the payment failed and the dates remained booked, contacted HL and they resolved the problem so the guest was able to book.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
Ecosse
Posts: 812
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 10:40 pm
Location: Saint Gervais les Bains, France
Contact:

Post by Ecosse »

Hello it might be worth speaking to your bank - we recently challenged ours about the seeming lack of Internet banking security and they reassured us that there was absolutely no way someone could remove money from our account without our authorisation.

We have also been required to send our RIB and IBAN to various people, including future guests with no issue. It's easy to deposit money into our account this way, but our bank requires us to sign a form authorising the removal of funds (e.g. to pay for goods/services) before they will remove them.

Perhaps all French banks are the same?

P.s. I might be wrong, but in my opinion the emails don't look scammy to me
ronsat
Posts: 55
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:03 am
Location: Neffiès, Languedoc, France
Contact:

Post by ronsat »

Yeah - I think now that I was being overly cautious. I did exchange emails with my bank, and they assured me that sending the RIB to the customer is safe. And interesting to hear that the HL booking system has failed in a similar way in the past.

I also checked their email address - which looks is from online.no - a legitimate Norwegian ISP (which is a little more re-assuring than a gmail or hotmail address).

Thanks for the comments
We are Canadians who love spending time in Languedoc.
http://www.languedocvacationhome.ca
Post Reply