[unamadreditre]

Those going to Disney soon, beware of this scam........


Disney guests targeted in credit card scam

Updated: Feb 29, 2008 10:58 AM

Disney visitors are being targeted in a credit card scam.

Detectives said the credit card scam could be the work of just one man who contacted people staying in Disney hotels and offered them deals that sounded too good to be true.

"He said something like, 'Your dream has come true,'" victim Linda Clark said.

Clark was staying at Disney's Pop Century resort when she got a call from a man posing as a Disney employee.

"I had been chosen to receive tickets to the Hoop Dee Doo revue for $20 each," Clark said. "And I thought, 'Gee, that's a wonderful thing.' And they said that I would need a credit card number to hold the tickets."

There were no tickets waiting for Clark, but she later discovered her credit card had been used to buy $1,500 in Disney tickets.

"I couldn't believe that I had fallen for that," Clark said.

Clark is one of nine Disney hotel visitors taken by the scam.

Their credit cards were hit up for more than $11,000 in fraudulent charges.

Most of the victims were targeted between October and January, and were staying at Disney's Polynesian resort.

"White collar crime, identity theft, credit card fraud, is apparently easy to do and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to pull these crimes off," Jim Solomons of the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Investigators are strongly considering the theft was the work of a Disney employee.

A company spokeswoman said, "We have placed information in resort rooms to remind guests to protect their credit card information while traveling and to inform them that cast members will never contact them by phone while they are visiting us to request their credit card information."

The story has a somewhat happy ending.

In each case, Disney helped the nine victims negotiate with their credit card companies to re-credit the more than $11,000 back to their accounts.



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[MissDisney]

Originally Posted by unamadreditre

There were no tickets waiting for Clark, but she later discovered her credit card had been used to buy $1,500 in Disney tickets.

You would think that with the park tickets being scanned at the gate, they could stop people entering on the "stolen" tickets and either arrest them if they are the scammers, or get some information from them if they bought the tickets from a scalper or something...

This kind of thing has happened to us twic ein the past year, and we are really pretty careful. Once, we were taken for thousands in fake limousine charges, and the other time, we used an ATM card at a little deli in NYC (it was one of those free-standing temporary-looking ATMs).

In both cases, we were not held liable for th echarges. But we did learn to never, EVER use an ATM that is not in a bank lobby or at the drive-through.

[DisneyTeacher]

I read about this on another board and it made me sad. People are so trusting, we check in at WDW and automatically feel safe because of where we are. Never give your credit card number out to anyone who called you.

[Dana]

Wow..that's really a shame. I am happy to hear that Disney, while not responsible, helped these people get their money back. It's tragic that someone is taking advantage of unsuspecting people while on vacation. It's true. Once one WDW property, I immediately feel safe and let my guard down. This is just an example of why you shouldn't. Tragic that some idiot is using that year of a millions dreams to try and make thousands of nightmares. I hope they catch the person and punish them to the fullest extent of the law. I hope Disney personally sees to it as it's them who is being misrepresented and again in the press for something negative that happens on their property.

[dixie]

I agree with Dana I get lulled into a false sense of security whilst on Disney property and if someone had called my resort room I would too have probably believed it was a genuine call-Sadly this type of scamming is a global issue.

[leslieh]

I feel that these people will be caught. As Miss Dis said, tickets are coded and WDW knows where each ticket was sold. Also- when picking up tickets, I needed to show ID or my credit card, correct?

[Soundgod]

There's something strange here.
She got the call WHILE she was a guest at Pop Century?
Have you ever tried to call a guest, or even worse, a shop or restaurant in one of Disney's hotels? Even when I've called my own room, I've had to ask for the room number AND give the party name. How did this criminal even get through to these guest rooms, much less know that person's name in order to even pull this off. I'm smelling a rotten CM or two in the wood pile.
The story says most victims were staying at the Poly. Again, I'm smelling a rat in CMs clothing. I wonder how many of these people also used Magical Express.
That's just my own feelings.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by Soundgod

There's something strange here.
She got the call WHILE she was a guest at Pop Century?
Have you ever tried to call a guest, or even worse, a shop or restaurant in one of Disney's hotels? Even when I've called my own room, I've had to ask for the room number AND give the party name. How did this criminal even get through to these guest rooms, much less know that person's name in order to even pull this off. I'm smelling a rotten CM or two in the wood pile.
That's just my own feelings.

I think it has to be and we're not the only ones who think that, the the first post says "Investigators are strongly considering the theft was the work of a Disney employee."

[leslieh]

Originally Posted by Soundgod

There's something strange here.
She got the call WHILE she was a guest at Pop Century?
Have you ever tried to call a guest, or even worse, a shop or restaurant in one of Disney's hotels? Even when I've called my own room, I've had to ask for the room number AND give the party name. How did this criminal even get through to these guest rooms, much less know that person's name in order to even pull this off. I'm smelling a rotten CM or two in the wood pile.
The story says most victims were staying at the Poly. Again, I'm smelling a rat in CMs clothing. I wonder how many of these people also used Magical Express.
That's just my own feelings.

Or perhaps they booked through a similar TA?

[WishUponAStar]

That's scary!!! I would like to think I would have sensed a scam right away. I feel bad that people were taken for a ride.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by Soundgod

There's something strange here.
She got the call WHILE she was a guest at Pop Century?
Have you ever tried to call a guest, or even worse, a shop or restaurant in one of Disney's hotels? Even when I've called my own room, I've had to ask for the room number AND give the party name. How did this criminal even get through to these guest rooms, much less know that person's name in order to even pull this off. I'm smelling a rotten CM or two in the wood pile.
The story says most victims were staying at the Poly. Again, I'm smelling a rat in CMs clothing. I wonder how many of these people also used Magical Express.
That's just my own feelings.

I couldn't agree more Doug. Isn't easy to get someone's name and what room they are in unless you work there. There was no reason for these people to suspect something wrong...like said above, you have a safe feeling while at WDW.

[ddoll]

Someone else mentioned that there may be enough info on those dashboard passes for someone to call your room. They do not always ask for a lot of info to connect you.

[leslieh]

Originally Posted by ddoll

Someone else mentioned that there may be enough info on those dashboard passes for someone to call your room. They do not always ask for a lot of info to connect you.

I hadn't even thought of that! I wonder if all of that info is really necessary on the dashboard pass.

[sue299]

It is a shame. There are so many scams out there. It's what they say, if it sounds good, look for the catch. And....... actually if you think, shouldn't Disney have already had a credit card on file. So if you get a call like that, tell them to just use that one and you would not have to give any numbers.

[ddoll]

Originally Posted by sue299

It is a shame. There are so many scams out there. It's what they say, if it sounds good, look for the catch. And....... actually if you think, shouldn't Disney have already had a credit card on file. So if you get a call like that, tell them to just use that one and you would not have to give any numbers.

I agree that the people who got caught in this scam probably had their guard down seeing as they were in WDW. I think most of us would know normally not to give out our info to someone who called US.


But that is the bottom line here: if someone calls you, you should never give them your secure information.