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credit card fraud

Fraud scams Whistler hotels By Chris Woodall Two major Whistler hotels were ripped off over the June 19 weekend when high-flying scam artists used a stolen credit card number to run up a massive tab.

Fraud scams Whistler hotels By Chris Woodall Two major Whistler hotels were ripped off over the June 19 weekend when high-flying scam artists used a stolen credit card number to run up a massive tab. It happens all the time, say RCMP, who are once again advising Whistler hotel staff to review their credit check procedures. Two men from Vancouver were arrested by RCMP after they had used a credit card number lifted from an unknowing woman who had used it at a fast food restaurant in the big city. The fraud began with a letter faxed from the "owner" to one of Whistler's largest hotels, saying the owner gave permission to one of the men to use the credit card number to pay for hotel rooms. "Hotel staff didn't check the card number with the real owner," says Const. Warren Tomalty. "As a result the two ran up a $1,500 hotel bill before going to another hotel to do the same thing. They also got $200 in cash and bought $700 in clothing." Two days later the duo went golfing using the bogus credit card number. They got away with their buying binge for so long because they only stole the card number. "They took an imprint of the credit card at a fast food place," Tomalty says. "The card wasn't reported stolen because the card itself wasn't taken." But the Mounties got their man, charging one of them with multiple fraud and false pretences offences. "But thousands of dollars have gone that can't be recovered," Tomalty says.