You’re just settling down in your hotel room when the phone rings. The caller says the hotel computer has crashed, and to redo the paperwork, they need you to give your credit card number immediately.

Do not comply! Hang up and call the front desk for confirmation. You may find it was a scam to hack your bank or credit card account. This is a growing illegal business originating in China, Africa and the Middle East. Some of the phony calls originate from prisons where the inmates work from smuggled cell phones.

Rooms full of callers work the phones constantly with the phony messages. When they succeed in getting IDs, they’re able to quickly hack the bank accounts and make illegal withdrawals before the owners can react.