Police are warning London's five-star hotels to be on the lookout for a fraudster who checks in for one or two nights and runs up huge bills on bogus credit card numbers.
The man telephones in advance and has asked concierges to charge hired limousines to his room before vanishing.
A spokesman from the Hotel Intelligence Unit stressed that hotel staff must insist on seeing the credit card when the guest checks in. "At the very least, they should get a copy of the card faxed when taking the reservation," he said.
The man is described as around 40 years old, of Mediterranean appearance with a heavy, black moustache. He is around 5ft 10in tall and of stocky build.