If you ever stay in hotels, you should read this short article. This is an extremely common scam. I’ve responded to complaints of this happening more than a few times in my police career. Interestingly enough, this scam is probably more common in the USA than in foreign countries. Many locals in foreign countries don’t have the English language skills to pull this one off.
Be especially alert for calls like this in the early morning (4am-6am). That’s when I’ve seen this scam happen most often. People are drowsy and less aware when they have just been awakened from a sound sleep.