Cruise scam interrupted

[soremekun]

This came across my YouTube feed.  It appears as if the cruise was booked with a stolen credit card.  It also seems like excursions were purchased as well.  I know prices are high right now but this tactic isn't worth it.

 

 

Edited March 18 by soremekun

[singleflyer]

The officer in the blue is unprofessional.   

[TYCruise]

Wow, talk about a walk of shame in Key West! (19:11)

[DCGuy64]

Wow. Classy. 🤣

[The_Big_M]

Virgin voyages: "We just want somebody's credit card we can charge."

[jcarter4551]

the best is the guy with the weed that approaches the Key West police officer and says "hey, that's my little bag of weed...is that a problem." Officer: "yes its a problem"

 

bro, don't turn yourself in...plead the 5th. LOL  

[garycarla]

Scammers are everywhere.

 

Hard to tell if she just bought this from someone that had the credit card or if she was the person with the stolen card.

 

In any event, she KNEW something was wrong.  Booking something like a cruise where they check and double check ID, credit cards, etc is just plain stupid.

[BeasleysMom66]

4 hours ago, garycarla said:

Hard to tell if she just bought this from someone that had the credit card or if she was the person with the stolen card.

 

Wasn't hard for me.  She had a fake ID and multiple credit cards in different names.  The few cards she had in her name didn't work according to the officer.  Her story changed more times than I change socks.  She knew exactly what she was doing.  The best thing she could have done was asked for a lawyer so they had to stop questioning her.  That is the issue defendants have with Miranda:  they know they have the right to remain silent but lack the ability to do so.

 

The officer also didn't understand that the cruise ship can only report that she used a stolen credit card(s).  They have to arrest her for the fraud then contact the credit card companies and get the information from them and follow up with the true owner of the cards to pursue the fraud. Virgin is as much a victim of the fraud as the person whose card was used.  I know.  My identity was stolen and it was so bad I had to prove to the IRS I am really the tax payer because they went so far as to file tax returns in my name.

[aviators99]

I still don't get the "cancel the excursion so she gets the money" scam.  I'm obviously missing something.

 

I had a weird run-in with that VV security guy who did most of the talking for VV.  I had an incorrect charge on my bill and the Sailor Services person called him over and he didn't smile once with me, either.  He was also treating me with suspicion.  But it eventually got fixed.

[Tralfaz1138]

4 minutes ago, aviators99 said:

I still don't get the "cancel the excursion so she gets the money" scam.  I'm obviously missing something.

I wasn't certain how that worked either.  I can only guess that maybe they booked the excursions with the fraudulent card, then swapped the card on file with a different one (debit card perhaps) so the excursions went back to that?  I don't know if that's even possible since, by default, it should go back to the original card but maybe there is a loophole in Virgins process there?

[Cloud9 Bob]

Notice how she pauses and stalls and pretends she didn't hear correctly. All are classic deception techniques. She's trying to formulate her next lie and doing a rather poor job.

[DCGuy64]

4 hours ago, Cloud9 Bob said:

Notice how she pauses and stalls and pretends she didn't hear correctly. All are classic deception techniques. She's trying to formulate her next lie and doing a rather poor job.

I hope VV shares her photo with all of the cruise lines so she's banned for life on all of them. What a reprehensible person.

[pc_load_letter]

On 3/19/2024 at 2:58 PM, Tralfaz1138 said:

I wasn't certain how that worked either.  I can only guess that maybe they booked the excursions with the fraudulent card, then swapped the card on file with a different one (debit card perhaps) so the excursions went back to that?  I don't know if that's even possible since, by default, it should go back to the original card but maybe there is a loophole in Virgins process there?

 

I cannot attest to Virgin's excursion cancellation policy but from some research, they will purchase the excursions with the stolen credit card, then attempt to cancel onboard and try to get cash refund. Evidently it's a pretty big scam.

[pc_load_letter]

On 3/18/2024 at 6:50 PM, singleflyer said:

The officer in the blue is unprofessional.   

 

He was GREAT. Try dealing with the dregs of society on a daily basis. He offered her multiple chances but kept stating..." i dindu nufin". He was as professional as he needed to be.

[hotsauce126]

20 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

He was GREAT. Try dealing with the dregs of society on a daily basis. He offered her multiple chances but kept stating..." i dindu nufin". He was as professional as he needed to be.

He was a dick to the virgin employees and acted like a key west policeman has bigger fish to fry

[monn_a]

I think people are misunderstanding what's happening.  This is a big scam right now. There are people with stolen credit cards booking trips for people (acting as "travel agents"), they advertise these really cheap rates. You give them ~$500, the use the stolen card to book it, they have your "legal" money and you get caught using a stolen card for the booking. The prey on the most vulnerable, untraveled people. They aren't asked to do anything for them (like the officers are trying to get her to admit) they are just laundering money so to speak.

 

Do the people booking it know that there's problem something illegal being done? Probably but they take the chance because if they can get away with it they get a cheap trip (something they will probably never get to do otherwise) I would put money on the fact that there are a few that actually believe they just got lucky and got a good deal. There really are gullible people in the world and people that don't weigh the risk or recognize they're being scammed.

 

It's perspective we don't always see how people can be taken like this if you've never lived in that environment or been exposed to these kind of cons.

Edited April 1 by monn_a

[BeasleysMom66]

5 hours ago, monn_a said:

I think people are misunderstanding what's happening.  This is a big scam right now. There are people with stolen credit cards booking trips for people (acting as "travel agents"), they advertise these really cheap rates. You give them ~$500, the use the stolen card to book it, they have your "legal" money and you get caught using a stolen card for the booking. The prey on the most vulnerable, untraveled people. They aren't asked to do anything for them (like the officers are trying to get her to admit) they are just laundering money so to speak.

 

Do the people booking it know that there's problem something illegal being done? Probably but they take the chance because if they can get away with it they get a cheap trip (something they will probably never get to do otherwise) I would put money on the fact that there are a few that actually believe they just got lucky and got a good deal. There really are gullible people in the world and people that don't weigh the risk or recognize they're being scammed.

 

It's perspective we don't always see how people can be taken like this if you've never lived in that environment or been exposed to these kind of cons.

 

I am sure no one here disagrees that there is a major problem with criminals scamming innocent people in every industry.  The problem with this particular incident and the woman in the video is she IS the criminal.  If you listen very carefully to the conversation two of the officers say more than once she has multiple credit cards in her possession that are not in her name and the few she does have in her name don't work.  When questioned why and how that happened she sits there in a stupor and has no explanation.  She knew what she was doing and got caught.  If this was a traveler with a paid statement from Big Bad Wolf Travel Agency and only found out then that the "agency/agent" used a stolen credit card to book the trip we would empathize with her.  The problem is she booked the trip using a stolen credit card and then sits there feigning ignorance.  I don't blame the officers for getting ill tempered with her "I din't do nuthin" attitude.

Edited April 1 by BeasleysMom66