For the second time in six months and third time in just over a year, Marriott International has issued a statement warning of an ongoing telephone scam.
The statement issued Friday is identical to the one sent out in November 2015 in which the company confirmed that it "has been made aware of a series of fraudulent telephone calls being made in different parts of the world where the caller offers a complimentary stay at a Marriott hotel to entice the person taking the call to listen to a sales pitch unrelated to Marriott."
"This practice, known as 'scamming,' typically incorporates a company's branding in order to get someone to provide personal information or buy a product or service," the Bethesda, Maryland-based company added.
Marriott reiterated that it's committed to protecting guests' personal information and encouraged potential victims of the scamming to withhold their personal information in the event that they are contacted about a contest they never entered.
The company notes that often times the best solution is to simply hang up.
What's more, the fraudulent calls can also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission.
Marriott first became aware of the troubling trend through complaints made in Canada early last year but later revealed that the scam was impacting people in other parts of the world.
Based on Marriott's most recent statement, it appears the scams aren't going away anytime soon. Therefore travelers are encouraged to remain vigilant.
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