SCAM Alert!

Tis the season for phone scams and other fraud so be on the alert. Phone scams come in many forms, but they tend to make similar threats, or ask you to send money, or to gain access to the property management system and Shift4. Ensure you and your staff don’t fall for a scam.

There’s never a good reason to send cash, and we as a company will NEVER call a hotel and ask you to wire money. The only place we will ask you to take hotel money to is in your property bank account. We will never call or ask you to send your personal money. We will never call and ask you to give us access to RediStay or Shift4. Your support teams such as accounting or IT have their own access to your systems. The only time IT will call your hotel for any access is when you have first initiated a call to IT due to a computer issue, so don’t fall for those calling your hotel pretending to be IT.

The most common scams that have been tried at our hotels are someone calling and pretending to be the owner of the hotel and asking you to send money or someone calling from Westmont Hospitality Group IT Department. These scammers even tell you they are calling from 713-782-9100 a Houston extension but the console shows a different phone number.

Computer Scams:

Here is what you need to know:

• Scammers call to gain access to your computers or Shift 4.

• Scammers tend to call during the early morning hours pretending to be IT. Don’t fall for these scams and remind your property staff to be skeptical of ALL unprompted call-in requests for access to your computer.

• The Westmont IT Staff aren’t going to be calling them in the extremely early hours to work on the computer and get access to your Shift4 system.

• IT will reach out in response to tickets the properties open and have their own Remote Management Software already installed.

• NEVER download something on your computers without telling the caller you are not authorized to do this and will have to follow up with your General Manager or Supervisor before you can grant permission for this request.

• Ask the caller for their name and a phone number you can call them back on, ask them to confirm why they are requesting access to your computer or Shift4. Contact your supervisor immediately and provide as much detail from the call as possible and call into or email our IT Department Email Ticket System: IT.Support@whg.com Support Line: 713-933-0990 and let IT know that someone called requesting access to your computer and give the necessary detail of where the call generated from and what caller requested.

• Remember if this call is truly from someone within our organization, they will not be offended that you are asking for this information or that you need to gain approval before proceeding, again don’t forget our team already has access to your computers. If you are unable to reach your supervisor or someone from IT leave a message and do nothing until you hear back. If the scammer calls again to inform them, you still have not gained authorization and cannot grant access at this time.

• If the caller becomes aggressive politely let them know you are disconnecting the call as you must await approval. REMEMBER our team members will not be offended by this decision.

• If someone did gain access to your computers or Shift4 passwords will need to be reset.

• DO NOT batch credit cards until all transactions have been verified. If batches are closed, we cannot cancel transactions.

Phone Scams:

Here is what you need to know:

• Scammers pretend to be an owner or other people from our organization. They ask you to send money via money orders or wire transfers. We as an organization will NEVER ask you to send money to anywhere but the hotel’s bank account.

• Scammers create a sense of urgency. They rush you into making a quick decision before you look into it.

• Scammers use intimidation and fear. They tell you that something terrible is about to happen to get you to send a payment before you have a chance to check out their claims.

• Scammers use untraceable payment methods. They often want payment through wire transfers, reloadable cards, or gift cards that are nearly impossible to reverse or track.

• One thing you can count on is that a phone scammer will try to get your money or your personal information to commit identity theft. Don’t give it to them.

QR Code Scams:

Here is what you need to know:

• Never click on any QR codes sent to you from ANYONE other than the Westmont IT department. There are scams circulating widely now that pretend to look official and come from Microsoft or another legit entity. They are not. You will never get an email from Microsoft advising that your email box is full, or your password is expiring or you need to set up Multi Factor authentication and that you have to click on a link or scan a code.

• If in doubt contact WHG IT. Email Ticket System: IT.Support@whg.com Support Line: 713-933-0990

• If you open or click on one of these fake QR codes or open a link, inform WHG IT immediately so we can scan and correct your pc. These links will try to install viruses or hack into your system.

• Always look at the sender email address, that is a clue that it is not legit.

• Also pay attention to this yellow warning on the top of all received emails.

Train Your Employees

• Your best defense is an informed workforce. Explain to your staff how scams happen

• Encourage people to talk with their coworkers if they spot a scam. Scammers often target multiple people in an organization, so an alert from one employee about a scam can help prevent others from being deceived.

• Train employees not to send passwords or sensitive information by email, even if the email seems to come from a manager. Then stick with the program — don’t ever ask for sensitive data from employees by email.

• If you are unsure who is calling and what they are asking of you, do the following:

  • Ask for name of person calling and the company they are with

  • Ask for a call back number

• Inform the caller that you are not authorized to provide this information or perform a task and you will have your supervisor call them back. If this is a legitimate business they will not take offense or try to persuade you to give them information.

• Contact your General Manager or Supervisor (RDO). Supply them with caller information: name, company, call back number and details of the request.

• Never give out your co-worker’s personal information; such as cell phone numbers. If the caller is a legitimate business they should be calling direct to the hotel business number or can call back to the hotel phone to reach the manager.

• Inform our IT Department of scam by either email: IT.Support@whg.com or calling IT Support Line: 713-933-0990

Scams come in many different forms, and it is our job to verify the legitimacy of all requests prior to falling victim to scammers. If you are unsure of something being authentic, reach out to your RVPO and IT Department to verify the validity of a request.

Training your staff to be on the lookout for potential scams is the first step of preventing something potentially harmful from happening. Reinforce training with all staff weekly and with all new staff members.

Additional information on other potential hotel scams: www.canarytechnologies.com/post/types-of-frauds-in-hotel-industry