Possible Dubai card fraud- does this sound dodgy!?

stevoraith

Looking for a bit of advice from you lot please as I'm in an unusual situation.

My brother and his wife are going on holiday to the Atlantis Palm hotel in Dubai next week and they will both have their birthdays while there. I decided it would be nice to book some sort of experience for them to do over there as a birthday treat.

I contacted the hotel through an e-mail address on their webiste and have arranged a cruise for them.

However, something about the payment method is making me think twice!
It is one of the largest and most expensive hotels in Dubai but they say they are unable to take bookings online or over the 'phone.
They have sent me a credit card authorisation form which I have to complete and then send back along with copies of the front and back of my credit card and my passport.

Should I be worried that they are up to no good with my details? Or am I just being paranoid?
Anyone else had anything similar?

Any thoughts would be welcomed, thanks!

scottishblondie

They may be honest and just a bit daft, but I certainly wouldn't be sending them that much info. Have you phoned them directly rather than emailing?

Wulfrune

If in doubt, leave it out.

fid1892

I certainly understand the nervousness regarding this, however I don;t think you have anything to worry about - having copies of the passport as well as copies of the card is the normal thing for hotels in Dubai, as you are paying for something with a card that is not physically with them to authorise the payment.

I travel to Dubai frequently for work, and the first time I went, I did not have a personal credit card, and my work credit card had not arrived prior to my trip. One of my colleagues oaid for my expenses on his card, however he would not be there when it came time for me to check out - the hotel had to copy the front and back of his card, his passport, and have him sign an authorisation form.

InsideInsurance

Their website will be setup for taking card payments for booking a room not for other expenses.

As to the telephone, look at it from their point of view. They are a world famous hotel where as you are some random foreigner that is phoning them out of the blue asking to pay for something by a foreign issued card which they therefore cannot do any significant security checks on.

It is not really that surprising that they are being cautious about it. They are set up for people booking rooms online and/ or people presenting their cards in person along with passports etc.

Typhoon2000

Yes that's pretty normal, also for some parts of Asia.

stevoraith

Thanks for the advice folks, good to hear of some experience from that part of the world.
The fact that is a large hotel does give me some reassurance too and if it's standard practice then I'll just go ahead I think.

It's going on a Visa credit card so I'll get some protection if things do turn out to be dodgy.