When Marriott first introduced mobile check-in at certain hotels, they apparently weren’t pre-authorizing guest credit cards for the stay. I’m told a not insignificant number of people checked in under false names and loaded prepaid debit cards with very low balances, just walking away from their hotel bills.
It’s the modern hotel equivalent of ‘dine and dash’ although a hotel guest in Guizhou, China shows it’s still possible to just go old school.