3 blocks away from a fraud?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 8 Aug, 2023
- |
Why do they want item 3?
Almost certaily so they can charge your card either now or in the future, and probably whether you show up or not. You should check what the cancellation terms etc are for this stay.
You should also read this question, and note some of the risks involved in just emailing out your credit card details.
As for ensuring the offer of accomodation is legitimate – firstly, hopefully your hosting institution can be trusted to only point you towards genuine accomodation providers. On top of that, you can do research – are there reviews of student accomodation by students in SF, and do they mention this place with these owners. Is there a building that could match the description/photos at the location when you look on Street View at the address (remembering that streetview can be a few years old in some cases, although probably not in SF). Can you get any of your contacts at your host instituion to do some due dilligence? Are the company offering the accomodation a legimiate organisation with registrations, addresses and contact details in line with what you would expect?
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘