HOTELS and restaurants are being urged to beware, after businesses were targeted by two different fraudsters trying to con them out of cash.

The first scam involves a caller wanting to book most of the rooms in the hotel for an extended period, during a quiet time of year.

The fraudster asks for a hotel brochure, maps and other information to be faxed through to them, but the number is normally abroad and at a premium rate.

York Hoteliers' Association released a warning after one business fell victim to the scam and was faced with a £50 fax bill.

Chairman June Nelsey said: "People do get these calls, and also we are getting about six scam emails a day.

"The problem is that often it is not the hotel manager or the head receptionist that falls prey to these scams, but the girl on a Saturday morning trying to help them out. When you deal with these things regularly, you are more alert."

The second scam, where people are asked to move large amounts of money in return for a share in the profits, is now operating from Eastern Europe as well as Nigeria.

Ms Nelsey said: "They send you an email saying it is a great opportunity, come and work for us, but we need your bank details so you can look after money until we can open an account over here.

"You get 20 per cent commission from all the money in your account - but you have to send out some start-up money of several hundreds pounds. It sounds odd, but I know at least one person who has fallen for it."

York Hospitality Association is also warning about the scams after one of its members sent back an expensive fax to a trickster pretending to make a booking.

It warned people to be alert to callers asking for faxes to be sent to 001 or 006 numbers, which are based in North America or Australia.

A spokeswoman said: "Our advice is not to respond to requests like this for information, but to direct callers to any website where the information can be accessed for free, or to offer to post it out.

"We would expect that both of these offers would be rejected, as the caller is not interested in the details, he is only interested in the fax fees."

North Yorkshire Trading Standards officials have also warned the scams are targeting businesses in other parts of the county.

Trading standards officer Len Swift said: "People do target hotels with requests for information, and normally want it faxing to a number abroad which is a premium rate number.

"When the staff member tries to send the fax, it is usually several pages long and seems to have been set at the slowest speed possible, so that it takes ages to send through and creates a huge bill.

"The Nigerian scam has been running for years, but it is still happening.

"Although it is a case of sounding too good to be true, people do fall foul of it. We are urging people to be alert."

Updated: 11:16 Thursday, December 08, 2005