Credit Card Fraud. Beware
I just got back from a two week stay in Santo Domingo. In the past few years I had decided on staying in Airbnb, except occasionally when my preferred apartment along the Malecon in Santo Domingo, is not available to check in on the date of my arrival and, I have to stay a few days in a hotel, usually Napolitano, while waiting for the apartment to become available. My last trip was one of those and, I had to check in at hotel Napolitano on 10/9, for 3 days while waiting for my preferred apartment to be available. At check-in, I specifically instructed the front desk lady at Napolitano, not to charge my credit card but instead to put a hold on the 25,000 pesos /$444.27 that she said was needed, as I was going to pay cash for my 3 night stay at check out on 10/12- she agreed. Nonetheless, unbeknownst to me, she went ahead an charged my card. I usually get an email alert from my bank whenever my card is charged. Unfortunately, I did not get to my email until 10/12, my check-out date and, only then did I discover she had, despite my instructions, charged my card for $444.27 as per the alert from my credit card bank. The lady who checked me in on 10/9, was not on duty but I expressed my displeasure to the front-desk staff's supervisor. The supervisor tried to cancel the charge electronically but encountered a glitch in the system and had to call their banker on the phone to do the cancellation from his / her end. After which, she told me that the charge should fall off my account statement within 2-3 days. The first time I noticed something fishy had happened was, when I logged into my credit card account, I saw a charge of $89.92 from Hotel Napolitano, which corresponded to a one-night stay. I had expected to see the $444.27 that my bank had emailed an alert to me some days earlier that Hotel Napolitano had charged, of which, the supervisor had attempted unsuccessfully, some minutes earlier, to cancel. Curiously the $89.92 was the only outstanding charge from Napolitano, there was no trace of the $444.27. Most perplexing, I did not have an email from my credit card bank alerting me of the $89.92 charge from Napolitano. Luckily, I am a qualified accountant and can smell a fraudulent scheme from a distance. I instantaneously knew the reason I did not receive the alert from my bank for the $89.92 charge, was likely because some savvy crook, most likely a hotel staff, had tagged the $89.92 charge to the original bank authorization on 10/9, via my credit card chip for $444.27, to pay for someone's else stay. The reason I quickly suspected this likely scheme was, $89.92 is the normal charge for a one night stay ($70 plus taxes) at Napolitano, whereas I had negotiated a private offer of $66.50 and with taxes, my total charge per night only came up to $85.12. So, if this was inadvertent error and, I was being charged for a 1 night stay, it would have been $85.12 and not $89.92. I immediately brought this up with the front-desk staff's supervisor and soon after, many of her colleagues joined in, with each trying to come up with a probable justification for the charge, from my eating in the restaurant, my girlfriend using the card, to my bank being the problem, since they couldn't find the charge of the $89.92 in their records. All of which, made no sense as the charge in my credit card account clearly listed Hotel Napolitano as the merchant. Not only did I let them know that American bankers are arguably the world's best but also, I asked to know why my girlfriend would take my card to make a room charge when she was with me? Needless to say the language barrier limited their grasp of the guiding hints that I presented to help them troubleshoot the issue and, the whole process painstakingly took so long and I had to leave but not without getting the direct phone number of the supervisor and her promising to continue with the investigation and getting back to me the next day or earlier. I also immediately filed a dispute claim for the charge with my credit card bank. This is already too long, so I will leave out more details. The supervisor maintained continuous communication with me while she continued with the investigation for a couple of days. Finally, informing me that the rigorous internal investigation guided by my hints, had led to the discovery of my credit card being used to pay for a certain woman's one night hotel stay. She also sent the picture of the woman to me. The hotel was able to has track the $89.92 charge indicating the physical chip on my card was used for the charge, confirming my initial gut instinct suspicion that the charge was tagged to the original bank authorization of $444.27 when I physically handed my card to the front desk staff, hence I remained in unseparated possession of my card in the duration of my entire stay at Napolitano. This is most likely how the fraudulent scheme is setup, a hold is initially put on your credit card for more than the calculated amount for your hotel stay, Soon after, or when convenient, a cancellation is processed for less than the amount of the initial amount on hold, and the remaining amount on the hold is used to pay for accomplice (s) hotel stay at lower rates and the difference from the normal rate, shared amongst them. This will work especially in cases where the customer promises to pay cash for the hotel stay. It also won't surprise me if the woman, in this case, was a high-end escort who boost of living in a 3-star hotel uses the hotel for her business with clients. If this happened to me, it might be happening to other unsuspecting customers and it's probably not limited only to Hotel Napolitano. The big lesson is to make sure you sign up for alerts, so your bank can alert you whenever your credit card is charged. And, also to constantly check your credit card account especially when you are out of the country. The $89.92 payment to Hotel Napolitano has finally been credited back to Account.
Credit Card Fraud. Beware
[QUOTE=Cestme;2620042]I just got back from a two week stay in Santo Domingo.....[/QUOTE]This was most informative. Thanks.
Fraud or just incompetence?
[QUOTE=Cestme;2620042]If this happened to me, it might be happening to other unsuspecting customers and it's probably not limited only to Hotel Napolitano. The big lesson is to make sure you sign up for alerts, so your bank can alert you whenever your credit card is charged. And, also to constantly check your credit card account especially when you are out of the country. The $89.92 payment to Hotel Napolitano has finally been credited back to Account.[/QUOTE]Do you know for certain that the charge was due to fraud, or just simple incompetence?
In any case, my credit card companies have always done an excellent job of protecting me from all kinds of incidents in the best.
What is the best Mall in Sto Domingo to pick up a chica?
I am about to visit Santo Domingo after a two-year hiatus. Sweet Jesus!
I have been in contact with my old girl friends there non-stop since the pandemic began (some of whom have had small infusions of money from time to time to help pay rent, etc) and they are happily arranging introductions of new girls, threesomes and even foursomes to entertain me. The lesson here is that every girl you meet in the DR has friends, and that friends have friends, and you can meet cute young girls indefinitely for sex without ever having to step foot into Casa Theresa, GBP or the rip-off strip joints on the Malecon. These girls are not always gorgeous, but they are never ugly and are all truly GFE (DFK, BBBJ, even BBFS is standard if desired).
One thing that I really love to do is to pick up "normal" girls. In part, I indulge this fetish through web sites like tagged and Badoo. I sometimes leave my WhatsApp number written on a piece of paper or a restaurant bill for a pretty waitress. Nothing works all the time, but I am never lonely. One of my oldest friends in the DR is named Glenys; she is a bit older, but her BBBJ is the best I have ever experienced. She knows many 18 yo but never more than 21 yo, girls in San Pedro. She has agreed to take me to a shopping mall and help me pick up a chica, perhaps at the price of some shoes, a blouse, or jeans (or all of the above). FYI: I am a very healthy 60+ man, I have all of my hair, albeit silver in color, and work out religiously 6 days a week (including 20-30 miles / wk of running). I speak very good Spanish, although my accent is clearly American. Most of the Dominicanas think I am 50 years old and I am constantly told that I am charming.
So here is the question for those who know Santo Domingo: what is the best Mall to try and pick up a chica for sex? The goal is to find someone who is pretty, innocent and willing to have fun.
