Samkvæmt tilkynningu frá Upplýsingamiðstöðinni á Hólmavík berst nú mikið af tölvupósti til gististaða hér á landi frá svindlurum sem reyna að svíkja fé út úr þeim sem svara og aðstoða. Upp á síðkastið hafa þessi bréf verið í formi bréfa frá blaðamanni sem heitir ýmsum nöfnum í póstunum og reynir að panta gistingu fyrir sig og konu sína í hálfan mánuð. Er fyrsta bréfið kurteislegt og spurt um kostnað. Þegar þeim er svarað byrjar tilraunin til svindls með því að fá gististaðinn til að aðstoða við óvænt vandamál. Dæmi um bréf sem þessi má finna hér að neðan:
Bréf 1:
Hello,
My name is Anthony Grant and am a Journalist, am interested in making a reservation for me and my wife to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I would like a double room for the 30th of Sept. to the 12th of Oct.2006.
Kindly reply with information stating the total cost of our intended stay.I intend to make payment ASAP so as to secure accommodation for our special occasion.
Hope to hear from you soon
Regards,
Antnony Grant
Bréf 2:
Hello,
I have reviewed the total costs of your lodgings and am more than delighted to pay .Unfortunately my local travel agent has just informed me that due to technical difficulties with their merchant machine, it has become impossible for them to charge my credit card for our tickets! This tends to pose a serious threat to our travel plans as funds intended for my travels are lodged in my credit card.
However my travel agent did advise me to ask if you could charge both accommodation and ticketing cost with your merchant machine,and then remit the cost of ticketing to their office in the UK.The cost of both mine and my wife’s ticket is 2,520 POUNDS.
So,I would appreciate if you make the following charges on my credit card: Accomodation fee , mine and my wife’s ticket fares plus an additional 250 POUNDS for your inconveniencies and willingness to accept our payment plan.
Please do get back to me if you are in the office right now so that I can forward my credit card details to you , then you can charge the full amount and transfer the agent funds to my local travel agency .
Regards,
Anthony Grant