Checked into a Knoxville area motel last Friday and in the room for 10 minutes when the room phone rang. It was from the "Hotel Security". They called me by name and said they had ran my card 10 times and it was refused. I was just getting ready to cooperate with them when the hotel manager literally ran into the room through the open room door and whispered "it is a scam, hang up." I did hang up but only after emptying my knowledge of four letter words into the phone. I called my bank and they advised changing card was not necessary as I had not revealed any info to the scammer. I thanked the hotel manager for saving me from myself. I was ready to dump information to the scammer because I reasoned they knew my name and room number and had to be legit. The hotel manager said he got a call from them and hung up and then noticed I received an outside call right after that. He was aware of the scam from one previous incident and knew better. I did not. Somehow the scammer had hacked the reservation system or the individual hotel's system.
If you get a similar call, beware.
If you get a similar call, beware.