Fake receptionist or wrong hotel name

How this scam works

At airports and bus stations in Bangkok, someone holds a sign with your hotel's name (or a very similar name) and pretends to be from the hotel's transfer service. They walk you to a different hotel or guesthouse, often nearby but lower quality. You realize the mistake only after checking in and finding the room does not match your booking. The scammer earns commission from the substitute hotel. This works especially well with small hotels that have generic names. A variation involves a taxi or van driver who drops you at 'your hotel' — which turns out to be a different property with a confusingly similar name.