How to spot a fake alert at your hotel’s front desk

Check a guest’s transfer in the hotel’s receiving account or payment provider’s records. A screenshot from the guest’s phone shows what they are presenting as evidence; it does not establish that the hotel received the money.

Consider this illustrative checkout: a guest shows a successful ₦85,000 transfer. Other guests are waiting, but the receptionist cannot see the receiving account. The manager who can check it is not answering.

The difficult part is now a decision at the desk. Who checks the payment, and what should staff do while they wait?

Give the desk a way to check

Agree this before the next busy checkout. Name the person responsible for confirming transfers on each shift and who covers them when they are unavailable.

Where your bank or payment provider supports it, give the desk access to incoming payments without permission to move money. Otherwise, arrange a check with someone who has that access. A separate receiving account still needs appropriate access controls; opening one does not automatically give staff view-only access.

Do not try to settle the question by inspecting the screenshot more carefully. Dubawa’s report on fabricated bank alerts shows why a convincing receipt is insufficient evidence.

Match the transfer to the guest

1. Find the credit in the receiving account or provider dashboard. Check that the guest used the correct receiving account.
2. Match the amount, time and sender details. Someone else may have paid for the guest, so ask whose name to expect. Check that the credit has not already been used for another bill.
3. If you cannot find it, keep the reference. Ask for the bank’s session ID where available, as well as the receipt, sending bank, amount and time. A receipt’s transaction reference and a session ID may be different; keep both if shown.
4. Record what you know. The payment has been reported, but receipt is not yet confirmed. Assign the follow-up to a named person.

A delay alone does not establish fraud. The transfer may need tracing, or the guest may have used different account details.

If the guest needs to leave

Staff need a hotel policy for this situation, including who can approve an exception. Contact the duty manager, explain that receipt is still unconfirmed and agree the next step with the guest. Record their contact details and the follow-up arrangement.

Do not mark money as confirmed merely to finish checkout. Equally, a payment check should not become an accusation. If another payment is agreed while the first is being traced, keep both references and arrange to reconcile any duplicate receipt.

Review unresolved transfers before the shift handover. If a bank investigation remains open, carry it forward with the person responsible and the next follow-up time. A deadline to review is useful; a promise that every transfer will be resolved that day is not.

A bill balance and a confirmed payment answer different questions

A system may credit a recorded payment against the guest’s bill before anyone confirms it. In our ₦85,000 example, that can leave a zero bill balance and ₦85,000 still awaiting confirmation.

The zero balance means the recorded payment covers the charges. It does not prove the money arrived. Read the balance alongside the confirmation status. Our daily report guide shows how to keep those figures separate.

If the payment is established as failed or invalid, correct or reject the entry through the hotel’s process so the balance reflects it. Keep the original record and the reason. A payment still under investigation should remain identifiable as such.

In Janus

Janus separates recorded payments from confirmed receipts. A recorded payment awaiting verification can cover the guest’s charges; rejecting it removes that payment’s credit. Verification does not block checkout.

For a hotel with the relevant Paystack receiving account connected, Janus can confirm matching transfers against Paystack’s records. Ordinary bank transfers require a manager’s check. See how payment checks work.