As travel picks up this holiday season, so do the scams. Many schemes involve fake airfare deals or too-good-to-be-true vacation packages. The Problem Solvers want you to beware of both phony travel deals and fake websites masquerading as airline help desks.
Doctor Jayaprakash Gosalakkal planned to travel overseas for the holidays. He then received a notification that his itinerary changed.
“So we thought we should call Delta, so we went to Google and looked up the name.”
When he called that number, the person answered, claiming to be an agent with Delta, and because Delta is very busy now, Dr. Gosalakkal was told by that person his airline subcontracted some of their work to other agencies. He knew airlines are backed up, so he believed the scammer's story.
He said, “Not only did they agree to reschedule our ticket, but he also said because of my age, I may be eligible for an upgrade to premium, and he said because of the covid and made it all sound very plausible.”
Dr. Gosalakkal saw a record of the new ticket in his delta account — but then it disappeared
.
“So we called up Delta and asked what’s going on, and they said yes, some agent that actually booked the ticket but hadn’t paid for it, even though he already collected money from us, he hadn’t paid for it and only if he pays will you get an electronic number.”
When he tried calling that agent back, he got no response, which triggered suspicion.
“When everyone else is selling a ticket for $1,500, and somebody’s giving it to you for $900, you have to kind of pause and ask, is it too true to be good?”
When Dr. Gosalakkal realized something was off, he called his credit card company to dispute the transaction. It issued a refund saving him close to 5-thousand dollars.
Angie Barnett with the Better Business Bureau says many travel schemes make customers believe they're dealing with a real airline.
To protect your travel plans, avoid googling customer service phone numbers.
Scammers like to post phony help desk sites that look like real company websites to trick you.
Instead, contact the airline through its app or go directly to its website to look for its customer service number.
And if you get a text or email about a great "free" vacation offer popping up in your emails or texts, know there is a catch. It’s not a free deal if you are asked to pay fees or taxes to take advantage of the deal. And never give sites you don’t know or that contacted you out of the blue with a “special offer” your credit card or personal information.
And if you do book a travel deal, use your credit card, not a debit card or apps that transfer cash.
You can dispute charges with your credit card company.
You can't with a debit card or cash transfers because that money is likely gone forever.
Contact the Problem Solvers:
- 918-748-1502
- problemsolvers@kjrh.com
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