Possible Scammer on Disney Property, claiming to be DVC Member

[rkold]

Hi,

I'm not sure this should be posted here or if this is entirely proper, but the more I think about this experience, the more it really disturbs me and I want to give everyone here a heads up. It's possible I am just being overly suspicious and that my mother got some details wrong, but overall, everything adds up to a scam in my head.

My mother and I are new DVC members (Oct 2013, home resort VGF bought direct from Disney) and decided to stay at AKV Jambo for a quick trip Jan 13-17th to escape to some warmth. My mom is 65 and doesn't tend to visit the parks at all. DD and I were visiting MK during the day on the 14th when my Mom met a woman in the gym approx 55-65 named XXXXX (name redacted by me.) XXXXX claimed she had all her credit cards and ID stolen as well as $700 in Traveler's Cheques. She claimed to be a DVC member staying at Kidani, and being here to help her 19 yr old DD try out to be either Ariel or Alice. As she had no monies, she claimed to have no way to get food either. I believe my mother treated her to lunch. She gave my mom a phone # for a "room" in Kidani, but my Mom consistently had trouble reaching her there. (I am starting to wonder if the # could have been one of the phones in the lobby, which is why one couldn't leave a message on it and why XXXX wasn't always there. Anyone else with more experience know if those phones can accept calls?) XXXXX told my mom, she was staying on points, but was somehow extending her stay (You can't do this without switching to a CRO, right?!?!) and claimed the membership belonged to her 19 yr old daughter. My mom invited her to eat dinner with us Wed night, of which I was not pleased, and fortunately, we were unable to contact her. (she waited for us at Jiko, we ate in Sanaa.) The CMs at Sanaa did recognize XXXX's name and said XXXX had told them she was checking out on Wed. I wonder, if she had no monies for food, how in the heck could she eat at Sanaa?!?!? We saw her Thurs at lunch. She told us again she had no money for food so was eating tomatoes and onions from the fixings bar at Mara. She also claimed to have tickets for Cirque du Soleil on Thurs night and tried to get my Mom to join her. Mom was not interested, so she later told my Mom the performance was canceled. (Again, this doesn't sound like Disney, they seem pretty loathe to cancel hard ticketed events since that would involve actually having to refund monies!)

In the end, she only got maybe a meal or two at Mara out of my Mom, some old clothes my mother didn't want, and our Sanaa leftovers, but the whole situation was very concerning to me and has left me feeling disappointed and frustrated. I have to wonder if this person isn't regularly trying to scam meals/tickets out of people staying in WDW, and since XXXXX claimed to be DVC and met us while we were staying DVC, I'm sharing this here.

 

[Gillyrose779]

This all sounds very odd- def. saying the membership belongs to her 19 year old. What 19 year old has a membership? Also, is this the same 19 year old trying out for a princess job- where would she get that kind of money?

This all sounds funny to me. I would tell the CMs at the front desk. Tell them the lady's name as well as she is possibly posing as a DVC member. I don't think they will tell you if she is or is not but, if she isn't, the will be able to find out and let all resort staff know what is going on.

 

[rkold]

This all sounds very odd- def. saying the membership belongs to her 19 year old. What 19 year old has a membership? Also, is this the same 19 year old trying out for a princess job- where would she get that kind of money?

This all sounds funny to me. I would tell the CMs at the front desk. Tell them the lady's name as well as she is possibly posing as a DVC member. I don't think they will tell you if she is or is not but, if she isn't, the will be able to find out and let all resort staff know what is going on.

We're back home now, but I did just call up WDW to find out where I can report this experience. I'm really concerned that this person might hit up other 65+ people at WDW. I confess, at the time I felt uneasy with XXXXXX, but it wasn't until I was home I started realizing all the problems with her story.

And yes, I'm pretty sure XXXX told my mother the membership belonged to the 19yr old daughter trying out to be a princess. And like you, I was trying to figure out how a 19 year old could afford DVC membership.

When I just contacted Disney, they told me Cirque is on a scheduled vacation from the 12-20th, so it's not possible she ever had tickets for the 16!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

I totally think this sounds like a scammer. That said, my ex fiance & I (under his name) bought into DVC at 19, but he wasn't interviewing for jobs at the time, he'd been working for about 3 years in IT (think Doogie Howser and a $200k+ salary, I am not making this up). I'm not sure how tight their credit rules were back then (VWL was brand new).

But again, he certainly wasn't interviewing for face character jobs at the time or I imagine Disney wouldn't have financed a 19 year old.

Alas, the total package wasn't worth keeping him around, even with that salary

 

[disneynutz]

There are scammers everywhere, I would tell your Mom to check and make sure that she has all of here credit cards and ask her not to talk to strangers.

STRANGER DANGER

Bill

 

[DizBub]

Ok, this all sounds really creepy. I'm so glad your mom didn't go off with this woman alone.

I believe you can extend your stay on points but only if there is availability.

If your cards are reported stolen they will issue you new ones right away. Like overnight right away if you are on vacation.

I would definitely follow up on this at least with people at AKV/Kidani as it seems some people are aware of her there.

What a way to start your DVC membership!

 

[Deb & Bill]

We're back home now, but I did just call up WDW to find out where I can report this experience. I'm really concerned that this person might hit up other 65+ people at WDW. I confess, at the time I felt uneasy with XXXXXX, but it wasn't until I was home I started realizing all the problems with her story.

And yes, I'm pretty sure XXXX told my mother the membership belonged to the 19yr old daughter trying out to be a princess. And like you, I was trying to figure out how a 19 year old could afford DVC membership.

When I just contacted Disney, they told me Cirque is on a scheduled vacation from the 12-20th, so it's not possible she ever had tickets for the 16!

You can contact Member Satisfaction about this via email on the member website.

I think I would have asked to see the resort manager immediately on this if I was suspicious about a "guest" and not wait until I got home.

 

[DisWitt]

I'd say to call any WDW security number that you can find and just file a report. Better safe than sorry... And just leave it in the hands of the pros.

Quick story- on our first dcl, DW and I were assigned to a table with two other couples, no kids. One couple just "didn't fit". They were vague about why they were on the ship, weren't "into Disney" like us and the other couple, etc. Long story short, we got a bad feeling about those two. So I figured better to report it to Disney (dcl) security than even spend time worrying while on MY vacation. That's what we did. Security was VERY serious about the whole thing. They KNOW that Disney is a major target for all kinds of nefarious activity (just stew for a whole on that and it goes everywhere from petty theft to bad bad bad stuff). Then think on all of the unseen security measures that they have in place. They can track someone from the time the set foot on property and account for nearly every dollar spent and every minute of time. We saw the couple after the report, but their table assignment was changed. No idea what ever happened... But that's why Disney has pros working.

If you see something, say something.

 

[Sur]

Yes, it is VERY suspicious to be on a Disney cruise and not into Disney!

 

[brertoad]

Firstly, thanks for sharing this experience.

Luckily we have had only good experiences with other folks at Disney. We have met people at dinner (like at 'Ohana) or other DVC events (VGF Brunch) and had nothing but positive interactions and even made friends with other DVC members this way.

I think key element that differs between our experience and your experience is that the woman singled out your mother (the opportunity to chat her up at the gym alone) and basically solicited her, then attached herself to you all.

With our experiences we were not singled out by others, we were seated with other folks just by happenstance and hit it off with them. And there was no solicitation from either us or them to make anyone uncomfortable. We have received friendly invitations to come along to dinner etc. (I would assume we pay our own meal of course).


I probably would have gotten a strange feeling if it were me, the story doesn't seem 100% plausible, who carries traveler's checks these days?? Maybe I'm wrong, but it's more effort to get them than just carrying around credit cards.

I agree about reporting this to Disney, when things go unreported then a potential criminal will get away with it over and over. We do hear about scammers all the time, people will steal things if left out, don't ever leave your bags, phones, or other belongings unattended. I've read about people getting all manner of things lifted. I'm very cautious with our things, I even am skeptical of leaving things in the safes. I read about a maid who was opening safes with what I assume to be a duplicate key or master key. I don't trust the electronic safes, we had one malfunction on us at BLT, wouldn't open, then I somehow managed to reset it, that was so stressful.

 

[AmyB2006]

That's definitely a scam. People will prey on others they deem vulnerable, like older women/men, or younger (not life experienced) people. That is a very common tactic. Make people think you are "stranded" and have somehow lost your monies, gain their trust somehow, then steal their cc information or identity.

She identifies with someone by claiming to be a DVC member, makes them feel bad for her that she has no money, etc. Unfortunately people fall for it.

I would definitely report it to Disney.

 

[rkold]

I want to stress, I am planning to report it to Disney.

Right now, my biggest problem is, my Mother is convinced that I am jumping at shadows and completely making this up. She thinks XXXXX is a really nice person and just quirky, weird and unfortunate. It's frustrating for me, because everything just makes only so much sense, but maybe it is me and I am overreacting. XXXXX claimed she was on the DP originally, but was now staying longer after everything was stolen (and possibly a hospital stay?!?! I'm still not quite sure why she was staying longer and why she was wearing a hospital wristband.) but unless you change to a whole new room reservation, I thought you were stuck on the DP.

I have met lots friendly people in WDW and have had perfectly lovely experiences. But I guess I would say, most of those people have also been loathe to take anything from me. This was just our first trip as DVC members, and it was disappointing to have something like this happen, particularly since it was driving a bit of a wedge between me and my mother.

I know I probably should have reported it then, but while in WDW, I thought it was just personal. I didn't stop to think it could be more. I still keep second guessing myself. *sighs*

 

[disneynutz]

I want to stress, I am planning to report it to Disney.

Right now, my biggest problem is, my Mother is convinced that I am jumping at shadows and completely making this up. She thinks XXXXX is a really nice person and just quirky, weird and unfortunate. It's frustrating for me, because everything just makes only so much sense, but maybe it is me and I am overreacting. XXXXX claimed she was on the DP originally, but was now staying longer after everything was stolen (and possibly a hospital stay?!?! I'm still not quite sure why she was staying longer and why she was wearing a hospital wristband.) but unless you change to a whole new room reservation, I thought you were stuck on the DP.

I have met lots friendly people in WDW and have had perfectly lovely experiences. But I guess I would say, most of those people have also been loathe to take anything from me. This was just our first trip as DVC members, and it was disappointing to have something like this happen, particularly since it was driving a bit of a wedge between me and my mother.

I know I probably should have reported it then, but while in WDW, I thought it was just personal. I didn't stop to think it could be more. I still keep second guessing myself. *sighs*

Your problem isn't the possible scammer, that's a done deal, the problem or future problem might be your Mother.

Even if the person was on the up and up, she should be contacting Disney or the authorities for help, not a stranger.

There are people who seem to live a WDW, I don't know where they sleep but they are there. We were attending a private party buffet at WDW and a couple wearing soiled clothes and no name badges walked in and helped themselves to the food and drink. They sat away from the group. When confronted by Disney they were escorted out of the room but not before grabbing some more food to go.

Bill

 

[Dano1182]

First of all Disney is very acommadating for people who get items stolen.So her helplessness does not sound right.

There are several problems with her story.

Lost travelers checks are replacable.(Not sure who still uses them)That is why you use them in place of cash.

Most credit cards comapnies will overnight you a new card if yours is lost.There are alo credit card service location in WDW.

If she used a credit card to check in they would have pre authorizied about 1500 so she could still have charged to her room.

She is on vacation and daughter is interviewing for a disney job. But there is not a soul in the world beside you mom who can help her?

If she were legit someone back home could have sent her money via western union.

 

[anna08]

This is a very common story of someone looking for some money, and I would venture to say the last place I would expect to get hit with that is at one of the DVC resorts. So sorry for you and your mom, because you feel bad no matter how you handle it.

Please please do the prudent thing and let DVC member satisfaction know asap - just think you will be sparing other older folks from experiencing the same tactics. I'm sure once security is aware, they will be easily able to track such a person down, as they are often persistent, and if their cover story works, they'll use it again and again in the same places.

 

[DiznyDi]

First of all Disney is very acommadating for people who get items stolen.So her helplessness does not sound right.

There are several problems with her story.

Lost travelers checks are replacable.(Not sure who still uses them)That is why you use them in place of cash.

Most credit cards comapnies will overnight you a new card if yours is lost.There are alo credit card service location in WDW.

If she used a credit card to check in they would have pre authorizied about 1500 so she could still have charged to her room.

She is on vacation and daughter is interviewing for a disney job. But there is not a soul in the world beside you mom who can help her?

If she were legit someone back home could have sent her money via western union.

This is so very true!
DH's wallet with all credit cards, DVC membership card and $ was stolen while on the west coast of Hawaii. We were staying at Aulani - staff there was extremely accommodating! We notified the front desk immediately that the card on file was no longer valid and were assured it would not affect our eating/buying experience while there. ( Our new cards were received the next afternoon - overnighted as OP said ) DH's DVC card was re-printed immediately.

IF this were a legitimate problem, Disney is there to help.

 

[nd43]

I find this whole topic depressing. It is a shame you have to deal with scammers almost everywhere now a days.

I often thought Downtown Disney is the largest "leak" in the Disney scammer net. Anyone in the surrounding area can get themselves to downtown Disney without being questioned. From there, they can jump on any resort bus and now your scammer is on property with no one noticing.

This is the one location I think they should check for resort keys, etc.

It is too easy to get to this location without question from the surrounding area and it gives them complete access to every Disney hotel without question.

Just my security hat. I know there are lots of other leaks but this one, to me, is just too easy.

 

[JillyBean1899]

I often thought Downtown Disney is the largest "leak" in the Disney scammer net. Anyone in the surrounding area can get themselves to downtown Disney without being questioned. From there, they can jump on any resort bus and now your scammer is on property with no one noticing.

This is the one location I think they should check for resort keys, etc.

It is too easy to get to this location without question from the surrounding area and it gives them complete access to every Disney hotel without question.

Just my security hat. I know there are lots of other leaks but this one, to me, is just too easy.

So you're saying that Downtown Disney should only be accessible to people staying on property? Sorry, but if I live in Orlando, I'm not buying a night at a Disney hotel just to go see my friend's band play at the House of Blues one night.

 

[DizBub]

So you're saying that Downtown Disney should only be accessible to people staying on property? Sorry, but if I live in Orlando, I'm not buying a night at a Disney hotel just to go see my friend's band play at the House of Blues one night.

No one is suggesting that. But if you want to drive in and park at DTD and hop a bus to get to a park or a resort hotel to circumvent the parking fee, etc this becomes an issue. Buy a park ticket and that does get you access to Disney transportation.

We stay at SSR in Congress Park fairly often and half the people using the buses get off and on there to get to and from DTD. We see quite a few actually crossing the street to get to the off-site hotels.

My daughter has a co-worker who brags that she has family in Orlando and when they visit they use this method all the time. They even go in and use the pools. I call them scammers.

 

[granmanh603]

No one is suggesting that. But if you want to drive in and park at DTD and hop a bus to get to a park or a resort hotel to circumvent the parking fee, etc this becomes an issue. Buy a park ticket and that does get you access to Disney transportation.

We stay at SSR in Congress Park fairly often and half the people using the buses get off and on there to get to and from DTD. We see quite a few actually crossing the street to get to the off-site hotels.

My daughter has a co-worker who brags that she has family in Orlando and when they visit they use this method all the time. They even go in and use the pools. I call them scammers.

We often stay in Congress Park too and see them too very often on buses and in the pool area. They come with coolers for the day...and in the hot tub at night. I often worry about the easy access into SSR from DTD and wonder what Disney is thinking...I do not know why they do not have a key only access gate for that path from DTD I am really surprised that nothing bad has happened but I guess there must be security that we do not see but I do get worried everytime I walk back over from DTD SSR