# Orlando holiday phone scam



## emaceile (22 Jan 2005)

Female phones offering a simple survey with the chance to win a holiday gift voucher to the value of $1000.

Survey covered marital status, last holiday cost, type of credit card used. Would inform me within 72 hours whether I was a winner. 

Next Day Guess what! another female caller and yes you guessed it......I had won a holiday voucher to the value of $3,889. 
"how do you feel"...says she ecstactic says I. 
The offer would last for 18 months after which time I could extend it for a further 18 months. Wow!

First hitch; 
could I confirm my wife's first name (yup I had lied on the survey) ahmm Clare says I. 
“Can she come to the phone” (see what telling lies does) ahmm no I'm sorry she's at work (second lie: I'll burn in hell I know). 
"I'm sorry we are unable to continue with this offer without your wife's permission" oh no! says I. 
"When can you get her to confirm she's interested in this offer" 
no problem I'll talk to her later, oh she'll be interested alright.

Female agreed to call back on Monday and proceeded to advise me of the holiday offer, 4 adult tickets to universal studios, sea world, personal valet on cruise ship ("who would cater for our every need") etc. minor payments for local taxes and boarding charges. 

Second hitch I would have purchase my own flight - no problem! says I. She directed me to an english company offering cheap flights to Orlando (isn't she very helpful?). 

Third little hitch, because of the lottery/tax laws in Florida I must understand that I have voluntarily agreed to take part in the promotion. Oh begorrah i understand says I. 

Fourth hitch, I would have to send a $895 registration fee to them before they would send the voucher. 
Could I not see a contract NO says she, 
Could I examine the terms and conditions on a website NO says she 
"the contract must be agreed over the phone". (Smell a rat yet?)

She advised that the call on Monday would be recorded for my credit card company, and a copy would be sent to the insurance company covering the holiday.  And that's as far as we've got at present, tune in later to see if silly Irishman agrees to the have his voice recorded. Will he accept the offer?, is it too good to be true?


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## RMB (18 Aug 2012)

*Congratulations- You've won a $3000 Travel Shopping Spree*

Hi, Something similar happend last evening (17 Aug 2012) when i was browsing/ researching the internet and trying to find about sweepstakes scams.

A link on the forum led to website which opened this tab:

www-dot-priceside-dot-net/perl-bin/show.pl?adid=weekly8&page=index&sessionid=018df502e95f0562858bd
It gave 4 mniutes to call a Dublin tel No. So i called ... with trepidation. Without any delay a female voice with American accent  greeted me, asked for refrence no and gave me her name as Luz Ortiz. She then spent next 12-15 min were spent in usual pep talk- are U excited? Followed by Q&A session.... nothing related to personal data.
However, 1 week holiday streteched to 2 weeks..... Cruise to Bahamas and Daytona included. 1 week free car rental.... Then a new operator took over and said: "Hey, I'm going to book you a free car rental have U got your Drivers Licence handy? I say No - She says can U get it? I say "No! cant get it at moment" I felt disappointment on the other end of fone.....

I guess she wanted my D.O.B. etc from that. Transferred back to 1st operator.... "Hey are U excited?" I respond in a very monotone voice 'Yes' How do U feel? I say its sounding more and more 'too good to be true'.......

Then we come to the next tab on the website: 
--www-dot-freecruise-dot-com/main7.pl?show=orlando&l=IE

She explains the attractions included e.g., Disney World free tickets to rides and attractions.... in Bahamas we get to stay in sea front rooms! Free cruise.... i felt floating in the warm waters and white sand under my feet!

--www-dot-freecruise-dot-com/main7.pl?show=itinerary&l=IE

Ah wonderful i say to myself... now she is going to ask for my Credit card details! And she did  after spending another 5 min on usual speil. I say i dont hav my Credit Cards wit me. She suggests get your friends credit card, because Hon its once in a lifetime offer and we cant wait to secure a place for you!
I say can io call U back 2moro? She says NO. I say can i call U in 90 minutes? Answer: NO. So i said let me ask my friend if I can use his CC, please hold for a moment. I could feel the heaviness in the air (on the other end of phone). I could sense the  disappointment.... I asked my daughter if i cud use her CC? (knowing fully she doesnt have a credit card) She syas how much i say its $898-- she said is it the $898 scam? I siad i dont know.... but the operator heard it..... and hung up!
And with that all my dreams of 2 week holidays in Florida just collapsed.

*Now i have a question:* *If i would have given my CC details, then learn its a fraud/ scam. Would i be protected by Visa card insurance against it?*


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## RMB (18 Aug 2012)

I have the screen-shots of the sites. I dont know if its possible to upload JPG format pics on this site.


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## Brendan Burgess (18 Aug 2012)

Why spend so much time talking to them? Why even bother ringing them? 

If you see the word "free",  don't get involved at all. 

In general, avoid stuff promoted online from a different country.


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## Bonaparte (18 Aug 2012)

The only way to defeat these scams is to engage for as long as you can with them. Basically once you keep them on the phone it's costing them money in payroll and telephone bills. My personal record is to engage a man from India, who was going to fix my computer, for a full twenty minutes before he realised the game was up. Funny I seem to have dropped off that particular calling list


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## jhegarty (18 Aug 2012)

There will be a "free" cruise at the end of this , but you will end up paying the $900 + about $300/$400 in port charges for a cruise that could be pruchsed for $500 all in.


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