Restaurant Reservation Scam

We have been alerted by OWL about a scam concerning a restaurant reservation that a local member made.

The member made an online reservation at a restaurant in the Berkhamstead area. At the time of booking she had to give her credit card details to secure the booking and was told that if they were a no show then £15 would be deducted from her card. The booking was then processed through an online service provider.

The day after the meal, the resident received a call from somebody purporting to be the restaurant, explaining that they had wrongly taken a payment from her credit card. They offered a voucher or a refund. She chose the refund, at which point the caller asked for her card details. As the caller knew her name and the reservation details, she gave him the information he asked for. The caller said he would email a confirmation that the refund had been made.

When she came off the phone, she felt suspicious of the call and phoned the restaurant, who confirmed that they had not taken anything from her credit card. She then rang her credit card company who instantly cancelled the card, but an online purchase had already been made by the fraudster.

Please never give your credit/debit card details to anyone who has phoned you, as you can never be sure they are who they claim to be.