This is not really a scam, just a note of caution. I didn't know where else to put this message. Be careful if you book a hotel through the website reservationcounter.com. Their listing on the internet led me to believe that I was actually contacting the hotel, which was my intent. I booked by telephone, but because the agent's English was so bad, I couldn't understand that I wasn't talking to the hotel. (This was a US property, but the website uses an offshore call center.)
The problem was -- the agent immediately charged the entire stay to my credit card, without telling me he was doing so or asking my permission. And when I arrived at the hotel, they had no way of determining how much had been charged to my credit card or what provider had done it. When I got my credit card statement, the dollar amount surprised me. After a very long phone call with ReservationCounter.com, I learned that rate varied during the days of my stay, another fact that was not communicated to me when I booked.