Rare island lady Posted April 24, 2020 #1 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Not sure if any of my cruise mates out there has received one...but just wanted to post a "heads up". Got an email that was a pretty good copy of looking like official RCI email. Was claiming to be a "Royal Caribbean certified vacation planner" which was asking for final payment (mine is not due until a month from now). Had misspelling and totally wrong C&A number. Had my reservation number and sail date correct, but that was all. Plus did not mention the previous leg that would be due before that one. Just wanted to post a warning to carefully check any of these emails you may get. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisegirl1 Posted April 24, 2020 #2 Share Posted April 24, 2020 thanks - and good catch M 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted April 24, 2020 #3 Share Posted April 24, 2020 How did they get your reservation number? Even someone who trolls these boards would not find that. None of us have any need to post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 24, 2020 Author #4 Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said: How did they get your reservation number? Even someone who trolls these boards would not find that. None of us have any need to post it. Have no idea...that is what makes it scary. But then again...how does someone steal your identity, or your social security number, or your credit card number? 😮 The email was asking me to call a phone number I don't recognize to give payment info. Ummm...not! BTW...I always make final payment online, as I book direct online. Was not sure if I should post this as a warning or not..but just wanted everyone to check the emails carefully. Edited April 24, 2020 by island lady 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted April 24, 2020 #5 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Just now, island lady said: Have no idea...that is what makes it scary. But then again...how does someone steal your identity, or your social security number, or your credit card number? 😮 The email was asking me to call a phone number I don't recognize to give payment info. Ummm...not! BTW...I always make final payment online, as I book direct online. Same with me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster Posted April 24, 2020 #6 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Work of a recently laid off IT department employee? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ourusualbeach Posted April 24, 2020 #7 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Knowing how messed up Royals systems are it wouldn't surprise me if it was actually Royal that sent it out. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel1973 Posted April 24, 2020 #8 Share Posted April 24, 2020 From what I understand RCCL has hired temporary workers to handle the overload. Sounds like they might have a pirate working for them. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADflyer Posted April 24, 2020 #9 Share Posted April 24, 2020 1 minute ago, diesel1973 said: From what I understand RCCL has hired temporary workers to handle the overload. Sounds like they might have a pirate working for them. I think RCL and RCI have actually had a severe reduction of staff and have terminated all outside consulting contracts. There are many possibilities on this email situation. Companies are being hit with record levels of phishing attempts and with many workers moved to working from home, successful hacking has increased substantially. I have no idea on RCI's situation. It would not surprise me if they have an automated final payment system and that this could just be some sort of error. NCL uses the Personal Travel Planner system and mine has always been the exact same name for 12 years now, emails are always generated when I do not answer an automated phone call from them, then it is always a different person stating to be this named Personal Travel Planner if I do call them back or answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepcman Posted April 24, 2020 #10 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Care to share the email address of the sender? The fake addresses usually have a small anomoly from the authentic ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted April 24, 2020 #11 Share Posted April 24, 2020 2 hours ago, island lady said: Not sure if any of my cruise mates out there has received one...but just wanted to post a "heads up". Got an email that was a pretty good copy of looking like official RCI email. Was claiming to be a "Royal Caribbean certified vacation planner" which was asking for final payment (mine is not due until a month from now). Had misspelling and totally wrong C&A number. Had my reservation number and sail date correct, but that was all. Plus did not mention the previous leg that would be due before that one. Just wanted to post a warning to carefully check any of these emails you may get. Thank you,not received one but will watch carefully. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondSuiteCruiser Posted April 24, 2020 #12 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Thanks for the warning, and glad you caught it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted April 24, 2020 #13 Share Posted April 24, 2020 3 hours ago, island lady said: Not sure if any of my cruise mates out there has received one...but just wanted to post a "heads up". Got an email that was a pretty good copy of looking like official RCI email. Was claiming to be a "Royal Caribbean certified vacation planner" which was asking for final payment (mine is not due until a month from now). Had misspelling and totally wrong C&A number. Had my reservation number and sail date correct, but that was all. Plus did not mention the previous leg that would be due before that one. Just wanted to post a warning to carefully check any of these emails you may get. Pat, thanks for the heads up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Baltic Posted April 24, 2020 #14 Share Posted April 24, 2020 I get things like this all the time. They’re really convincing and have the RC name. The logo even looks like the real thing. Most of the time they say ‘Buy 1 deluxe drinks package, get one half price’ or ‘30% off drinks packages’ but when I log in the price is still the same. You need to be really careful these days 😎 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floater4life Posted April 24, 2020 #15 Share Posted April 24, 2020 4 hours ago, diesel1973 said: From what I understand RCCL has hired temporary workers to handle the overload. Sounds like they might have a pirate working for them. I called RC after they moved their cruise date from May to June 12. We are on a cruise to depart June 13th. We wanted to look into moving our cruise to July or August. After I finally got a person on the phone connection was garbled and the person had no idea what to do. Told me to wait until closer to my cruise. I wanted to move it. She said I have to cancel and rebook. I said ok...they hung up. Nice to have a person speak to you but in the end useless. I understand to a degree but I would prefer a call back feature. I wouldn't care if I wouldn't get a call for days as long as the person calling was a seasoned professional RC employee. So now I wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare bobmacliberty Posted April 24, 2020 #16 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Phishing scams have become very sophisticated. Much harder to spot than the old Nigerian Prince emails. If you want to see something really scary, which this video of a vishing (voice phishing) call: 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missusdubbya Posted April 24, 2020 #17 Share Posted April 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Billy Baltic said: I get things like this all the time. They’re really convincing and have the RC name. The logo even looks like the real thing. Most of the time they say ‘Buy 1 deluxe drinks package, get one half price’ or ‘30% off drinks packages’ but when I log in the price is still the same. You need to be really careful these days 😎 😁 me too, total scam 😁 5 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said: Knowing how messed up Royals systems are it wouldn't surprise me if it was actually Royal that sent it out. I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcur Posted April 25, 2020 #18 Share Posted April 25, 2020 16 hours ago, island lady said: Not sure if any of my cruise mates out there has received one...but just wanted to post a "heads up". Got an email that was a pretty good copy of looking like official RCI email. Was claiming to be a "Royal Caribbean certified vacation planner" which was asking for final payment (mine is not due until a month from now). Had misspelling and totally wrong C&A number. Had my reservation number and sail date correct, but that was all. Plus did not mention the previous leg that would be due before that one. Just wanted to post a warning to carefully check any of these emails you may get. Sounds like a laid off employee sold some reservation data to the bad guys. If I get any email that sets off my Spidey-sensor, I open and new window and check things out. Plus, if it's not from Big Box Store Travel, then I spam it into oblivion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 25, 2020 Author #19 Share Posted April 25, 2020 17 hours ago, davekathy said: Pat, thanks for the heads up. Thanks...you are most welcome. 🙂 Hesitated to post this thread...as I am sure we are all careful with suspicious emails, phone calls etc. But since it was cruise related, thought I would give a head's up. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelbell Posted April 25, 2020 #20 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Thank you for posting. We do all payments online. But this gets you wondering is it best to work with a TA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 25, 2020 Author #21 Share Posted April 25, 2020 1 minute ago, kelbell said: Thank you for posting. We do all payments online. But this gets you wondering is it best to work with a TA? I always pay off my cruises online with RCI website directly. That is what struck me as odd when I got that email asking me to call in my payment to that phone number (which is not due for three weeks). 90% of my bookings are direct online with RCI, and the rest is with Next Cruise on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelbell Posted April 25, 2020 #22 Share Posted April 25, 2020 I wonder if RCC ever do call for final payment? All our years of cruising, different lines, we have never even got a reminder call for final payment.😉. All scammers go (you know where) for all the pain the cause ppl. They are the scum of the earth.....🤬 Good catch, thank you again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare crusinthrough Posted April 25, 2020 #23 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Why not call RC using the number you normally do and verify? I saw something similar on another site and it mentioned there was additional OBC if the reservation was paid in full (earlier than final payment). The offer was verified when calling C&A. I don't think a second reservation would be mentioned if it's an offer. This is not how RC system works. Each reservation is separate and receive different offers. Going forward how things worked in the past may be different than present times. I wouldn't base decisions on how it was pre cruising shutdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTAngel Posted April 25, 2020 #24 Share Posted April 25, 2020 On 4/24/2020 at 11:11 AM, island lady said: Not sure if any of my cruise mates out there has received one...but just wanted to post a "heads up". Got an email that was a pretty good copy of looking like official RCI email. Was claiming to be a "Royal Caribbean certified vacation planner" which was asking for final payment (mine is not due until a month from now). Had misspelling and totally wrong C&A number. Had my reservation number and sail date correct, but that was all. Plus did not mention the previous leg that would be due before that one. Just wanted to post a warning to carefully check any of these emails you may get. I always pay close attention to spelling & grammar. That's a sure sign of fraud. These ppl are not very literate. I delete anything that is not literate. My thinking is if this is an indication of their quality I don't trust them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 25, 2020 Author #25 Share Posted April 25, 2020 44 minutes ago, PTAngel said: I always pay close attention to spelling & grammar. That's a sure sign of fraud. These ppl are not very literate. I delete anything that is not literate. My thinking is if this is an indication of their quality I don't trust them. Exactly this ^ That was one of the big red flags, plus they had my C&A number wrong (not even close), and I did not book through an agent with RCI on the phone. I have never received an email that wanted me to call with payoff info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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