That was a new scam encounter.

[..]

Motel room phone rings at 11.32 p.m. rousing me up from a sound sleep.

A well spoken man with a slight foreign accent asks if I am in room number 117 and then tells me that there had been a computer crash and he needed some information and I would get a free night credit for my assistance.

He asks me my name and address. Which I give him as my brain is regaining full function and some whoop whoop alarm sirens are starting to blast.

He then asks me for my credit card number at which point fully awake I tell him to F OFF. He hangs up.

Here's a different scenario.

Fake Front Desk Calls

Hotel guests may receive a late night phone call from someone impersonating the front desk. The caller asks for credit card information claiming there’s a problem with the credit card on file. They may say it was declined, they need to re-verify payment information or that they lost all of the financial information and need to run an audit by a certain time. The scammer will offer to take your credit card information over the phone, so that you’re not inconvenienced. However, a real hotel staff member will never ask for your credit card information over the phone at odd hours of the night. They will always ask to settle up any charges at the front desk.

Always notify the hotel management of any calls of this nature.

[old2soon]

      Simple solution leave the room phone off the hook OR turn that phone volume off IF that's possible!  Or barring that unpug it. I refuse to be rsponsible til after COFFEE!  RIDE SAFE.

[da prez]

Bother me before coffee is a death wish.

               da prez

[..]

      Simple solution leave the room phone off the hook OR turn that phone volume off IF that's possible!  Or barring that unpug it. I refuse to be rsponsible til after COFFEE!  RIDE SAFE.

I'll be unplugging. Some land line phones will howl if the receiver is left off the handset to remind you to put it back in the cradle.

[Rams]

It's been a while since I called a hotel/motel but, I thought normally a caller can't call directly to a hotel room.   Any inbound calls had to go through the front desk or, am I wrong?

If the above is true, I can assure anyone interested that should I receive such a call, the front desk is immediately going to hear about it.

Rams