Phone Scammers Target Businesses

Telephone scammers have a new hoax they’ve been directing against local businesses, Hospitality Santa Barbara reported. In the latest scheme, a caller says they’ve got the manager on the other line and just need a little more money to deliver a shipment on a truck that’s right next door. This happened at a hotel at 1 a.m. this morning. The person “knew the names of the hotel managers and provided delivery tracking numbers and call-back numbers,” said Stephanie Armstrong, to give the claim an air of legitimacy.

The police were alerted, one hotel manager said, and the officers told him businesses in town were experiencing the same scam, even being told to go to the bank and wire money. The caller sounded very on-the-level and legitimate, he stated, but hung up when the employee said she had to verify it. Employees should be warned of the scammers, Armstrong said, and law enforcement informed if a telephone scammer calls.