Hotel scams involving fake or misleading listings are becoming increasingly common.
As an example of how often this happens, a 2024 report from the Federal Trade Commission says that consumers 60 and older lost $35 million to vacation and travel fraud. But these scams can happen to travelers of any age.
Some common schemes involve scammers cloning legitimate booking websites, sending messages asking for toll payments, or requesting money through methods such as wire transfers, gift cards, or payment apps.
Recently, a woman traveling to New York City with a friend says she fell victim to a suspicious hotel booking that ended up costing her around $600.
When she ran into popular TikTok creator Lenny the Doorman (@lennythedoormannyc), she learned she wasn’t the first traveler to arrive in that part of Manhattan looking for a hotel that wasn’t there.
Susie Evans (@susiewaslike) shared what happened next in a video that thus far has received over 80,200 views.
“You guys, I just got scammed!” Evans says while walking down a New York City street alongside Lenny.
“You got scammed,” Lenny reiterates. “Another one bites the dust.”
Later, inside a hotel room, Evans says the ordeal began about a month earlier, when she and her friend Carmen booked a hotel for their work trip through Hotels.com.
“Thought it was legitimate,” she says.
According to Evans, the listing initially appeared to be refundable. Moments after booking, however, they found another hotel they preferred and tried to cancel.
“We couldn’t cancel it,” she says. “Said non-refundable all of a sudden.”
Rather than lose the money, they purportedly decided to switch hotels halfway through their trip.
She says the next warning sign came the morning they were supposed to check in when they got a suspicious request.
“I get a text saying, ‘Hey, we need you to, like, Zelle us your deposit for like $600,’” Evans says.
That struck her as strange.
“I was like, that’s really weird,” she says. “I’m not doing that until we get there.”
She had, however, already sent the property something much more sensitive.
“Wait, I uploaded a photo of my passport,” Evans suddenly remembers while filming.
Her friend Carmen is shocked.
“When have you ever had to upload ID for a hotel in your life?!” Carmen exclaims. “Susie!”
She continues with the story. “We go across town; we get out exactly where we’re supposed to be,” Evans says. “We cannot find this hotel anywhere.”
That’s when Evans happened to run into Lenny the Doorman, who informed her that other travellers had allegedly been scammed through a listing connected to the same location.
“Somebody got scammed $10,000,” she says. “Thank God I’m only at $600.”
Now stranded in Manhattan with their luggage, the women needed somewhere else to stay.
Evans says Lenny tried to help them find a room at a nearby hotel, but nothing was available. That hotel directed them to Lotte New York Palace.
When Evans asked what a room could cost that night, however, staff allegedly informed her it would be $1,400 for one night.
However, after Evans explained what had happened, she says hotel staff stepped in.
“Basically, I got scammed,” she remembers telling them. “I pulled up the website; I showed what happened.”
According to Evans, staff told her other women had recently arrived with similar stories, including groups who allegedly lost $10,00 and $13,000.
A manager got involved, and Evans says the hotel offered them a significant discount.
“I don’t know how they did it or what they did, but they gave us a major discount,” she says. “Over half off.”
The room also exceeded her expectations. “This is the most spacious room I’ve ever stayed in in New York City,” she says.
“It’s not ideal to get scammed, but this is kind of the best-case scenario for where we could end up tonight.”
Some commenters couldn’t get past the request for a Zelle payment or the passport upload.
“GIRL. Zelle? You uploaded your passport??” one viewer probed. “Jeez… Zelle is almost always a scam. If someone can’t provide a valid, secure form of payment, RUN.”
Another was alarmed by the fact that Evans says she booked through a major travel platform.
“OMG HOTELS.COM?!? This is why I’m so scared of booking anywhere now a days,” they wrote.
A third commenter asked whether Evans had actually booked through Hotels.com or whether scammers had imitated the platform.
“It was Hotels.com!!” she responded. “It’s in my app rn that I have a hotel stay booked through them.”
Evans never shares the allegedly fake listing or the hotel name, which makes it difficult to investigate the incident.
Others thanked the people who helped salvage their trip.
“OMG I love Lotte for this, forever my favorite hotel and LOVE LENNY too!”
Hotel scams fool people in part by appearing legitimate in many cases. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends checking a few things before handing over any money.
One major red flag is a property asking you to pay outside booking platforms. The FTC warns that scammers favor those methods because once the money is sent, it can be very difficult to recover.
Another is a listing that is unusually cheap or vague about the property. If the hotel name, address, or other basic details are missing, the FTC recommends doing more research before booking.
You can try searching for the hotel name accompanied by words like “scam,” “review,” or “complaints,” and checking that the address actually exists.
If you get a text or email asking for extra payment or personal information after booking, it’s best to wait until you’re at the reception. If a hotel needs extra information or a security deposit, that’s typically when they’ll let you know.
If you’ve already been scammed, contact the booking platform and your bank or card issuer immediately to dispute the charge. It’s also a good idea to report the incident to the FTC, Better Business Bureau, and other relevant agencies.
Hotels.com, Lotte New York Palace, and Evans did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
@susiewaslike I got scammed in NYC but found @Lennythedoormannyc and ended up getting helped out by the Lotte Palace Hotel! @The Lotte New York Palace ♬ original sound – Susie Evans
