Many of you will be traveling by airplane this summer, and I hope you don’t get into the mess that my friend did. Here’s what happened. Eleanor and her husband booked two roundtrip tickets to Portland at different times, so they each had their own confirmation number. The day before the flight, Eleanor received an email confirming her trip but not her husband’s. She started worrying that something was amiss, so she tried calling the airline.
Because the airline had cancelled so many flights the day before, the hold time to talk to an agent was four to five hours! (She left a message for a callback). So, Eleanor, being resourceful, Googled around for an alternative number. An “airline agent” picked up and asked how he could help. After Eleanor explained the problem, he asked for her husband’s name and confirmation number, told her the flight had been cancelled and they needed to rebook, and hung up. When she called back, another “agent” asked for her name and confirmation number and told her the flight had been cancelled. Eleanor asked to talk to a supervisor and the line abruptly went dead.
At this point, Eleanor was worried that she’d been scammed and both reservations had been cancelled. Fortunately, the real airline finally returned her call. Their records showed that yes, both airline tickets for the next day had been cancelled. Refunds for future travel were credited to a frequent flier account that wasn’t theirs.
Eleanor learned how the scam works from the airline’s customer service representative. Con artists cancel flights using last names and confirmation numbers, then they direct the credits into their “frequent flier account wallet” and use or sell them right away. Because Eleanor was able to talk to the airline so soon after her interaction with the bogus agents, the representative was able to extract the credit from the scammer’s “wallet” before it was used. Both cancelled reservations were restored and the airline credited Eleanor and her husband the cost of the flights for their inconvenience.
If you ever have any questions about your flights and can’t get through on the airline’s main customer service line, try going online with your last name and confirmation number to verify your reservations. If you suspect any kind of fraud, keep trying to reach the airline by phone or chat with an agent on their official website.
