When the “Cot Request” Isn’t About Cots: Unmasking the Weirdest Hotel Spam Yet
Every so often, something lands in the inbox that makes you do a double-take. For hotel front desk staff, weird emails aren’t exactly rare—but sometimes an oddball message is so strange, it begs for a closer look. That’s what happened to one Reddit user, u/icq-was-the-goat, who shared a baffling story from r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk: emails with the subject “Request for a Cot in the Room,” but the body was all about booking a room for a pet, signed off with curiously formal language like, “I trust this will safely arrive.”
Was this a lost-in-translation moment, a new breed of spam, or the opening move in a convoluted scam? The Reddit community launched into detective mode, and the results are a hilarious—and cautionary—exploration of how digital con artists keep evolving.
The Email That Launched a Thousand Red Flags
Let’s start with the email itself—a masterclass in suspicious phrasing. The subject line is about a cot, but the message inside quickly pivots to pets and “finalizing vacation plans.” Then comes the kicker: “I trust this will safely arrive. I have an important point to discuss with you.”
If you’re thinking, “Wait, who writes like that?”—you’re not alone. The Reddit comment section lit up with skepticism and snark. As u/Helenesdottir astutely pointed out, “No one says ‘I trust this will safely arrive’ about an email. Idk what the endgame on this is, but it reads like either AI or 90s foreign prince scam.” Others, like u/KrazyKatz42, flagged the odd word choices: “The words and phrasing send up red flags all over. It’s like the ones you get that start ‘Dear Friend’ LOL.”
And the crowd kept piling on. u/Silentkiss123 quipped, “What do they think, Swiper the fox is surfing the web snatching emails in transit now?” Meanwhile, u/AshamedDragonfly4453 compared the language to a Google Translate job gone rogue: “Sounds like ‘I hope this finds you well’ if it went through Google translate a few times.”
Why Do Scammers Write Like This? (Hint: It’s Not Just Bad English)
So what’s the deal with the stilted, almost comically formal phrasing? As several commenters observed, scammers and spammers often rely on awkward or strangely translated language for a reason. Sometimes, it’s to dodge automatic spam filters, as u/SkwrlTail explained: “They’ll have it so it swaps out phrases in order to dodge automatic filters.”
But there’s another trick at work: targeting the right (or rather, wrong) audience. These emails filter out the skeptical and savvy, leaving behind only those who might actually engage. As u/Ana-Hata noted, this type of scam often leads to links or attachments—once you respond, you might be sent a file that installs malware, or get roped into a “fake payment” ploy involving overpayments and fraudulent checks.
And let’s not forget the classic “Nigerian prince” trope. u/Rick_B_9446 joked, “It’s a Nigerian prince! You should pay close attention to what he wants as he is undoubtedly royalty, and may make you rich!” While tongue-in-cheek, there’s a kernel of truth: these scams are often international, and linguistic oddities are a calling card.
The Many Faces of Hotel Scams (And How to Dodge Them)
If you work at a hotel—or, really, anywhere that handles bookings and payments—these emails should set off alarm bells. The Reddit sleuths outlined some common scam tactics that start just like this:
- Phishing Links: Reply and you may be sent a “pet information” link or document that actually installs malware (u/Ana-Hata).
- Fake Payment Scams: Scammers overpay with stolen or fraudulent cards, then ask for a refund to a different account, leaving you out of pocket (u/MightyManorMan).
- Credit Card Testing: Sometimes, it’s just about confirming if a credit card is active and works for a certain amount before it’s used for bigger fraud (u/Green-Wyrm).
- Vendor Scams: You’re asked to order something special (like dog food) from a “vendor” and wire money, only to discover the check or payment was fake all along.
The best advice? As u/NocturnalMisanthrope and u/imnotk8 both put it: “Scam. Don’t respond. Click. Delete.” Sometimes, the safest move is simply to ignore and move on.
Lost in Translation... Or a Glitch in the AI Matrix?
One of the most entertaining threads in the discussion revolved around the weird language itself. Was it a bad translation, a clumsy AI, or just someone with a thesaurus and too much time? u/RoyallyOakie called the language “bizarre… like bad Google translate,” while u/AshamedDragonfly4453 shared a gem from their teaching days: students would swap out words for synonyms to dodge plagiarism checkers, often with hilarious results—like “The Prime Minister’s death” becoming “The first priest’s bereavement.”
Some even speculated about regional business lingo, as u/Uncommented-Code suggested: “I wouldn’t be surprised if this is some sort of regional variation/phrasing, just like ‘kindly’ and ‘please do the needful’ is often used in Indian business communication.” But regardless of origin, the consensus was clear: if it sounds weird, it probably is.
Conclusion: Trust Your Gut—and Your Spam Filter
The next time you get a cryptic message about cots, pets, or vacation plans from someone who “trusts this will safely arrive,” remember the wisdom of Reddit: trust your instincts. As fun (and funny) as these emails are to dissect, they’re also a reminder that scammers never stop innovating—and that a healthy dose of skepticism is your best defense.
Have you received any hilariously bad scam emails lately? Share your favorites in the comments—because sometimes, laughter really is the best spam filter.
Original Reddit Post: Odd emails coming in. What kind of spam is this.