Now residing in Denver, Dan Smoker recently fell prey to a travel scam. This second stroke of bad luck came on the heels of his flight being canceled in May due to a mechanical failure. Smoker intended to rebook the trip for himself, his wife and their young child. When he called the United Airlines customer service number, he had no idea that he was about to be duped by a fraudster masquerading as a United employee.
To illustrate, on the day of the incident, when Smoker first started calling to rebook, she was routed to a United Airlines agent. He could only tell them his situation, get put on hold. Eventually, he was escalated to another person who introduced himself as “David.” Yet, this interaction would be the catalyst to a long chain of events that would lead to Smoker being both frustrated and financially devastated.
The individual impersonating David then promised Smoker that he could help him get the flight rebooked. That the scammer had called United Airlines themselves earlier that day on the same issue. From there, they coordinated with the Smoker call center staff to rebook their flight. Following their discussion, Smoker was notified that they would be issuing a refund for his past costs. In one billing cycle, he can expect to see it done.
Thinking he was working with a bona fide representative, Smoker went ahead and received a detailed email with information on how to collect the refund. United Airlines ended up refunding him for the upgrades and hotels associated with the canceled itinerary. Their insurance would not pay out for an extra charge of $17,000, which originated from a fraud and was never actually paid by the airline.
Currently, Smoker is facing the long-term financial consequences. As of this week, he still hasn’t gotten an American Express or United resolution regarding the $17,000. He attempted to reach David a second time with the personal number he’d been given directly by David. Come July, he was still making no headway on his refund.
“I know it. I know I called the right number,” Smoker expressed, highlighting his disbelief in being scammed after following what he thought were proper protocols.
The scenario not only opens up significant questions about customer service practices, but the general accessibility of fraudsters to prey on vulnerable consumers. Smoker reflected, “Because it’s one thing to call, call the wrong number entirely and get scammed. It’s another thing to call a trusted source, or what you think is a trusted source, and get scammed. And if it’s happened to me, I can pretty much guarantee it’s happened to other people.”
Kati Daffan is the Assistant Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Division of Marketing Practices. She advised everyone to keep an eye out while seeking contact information on the web. She encouraged consumers to be more click conscious. She emphasized the need to search for organic results rather than ads.
“This should be a wake-up call for industries as well as for all of us,” Daffan said. If members of the public are searching for contact information on the internet, they should be extremely cautious and only select organically generated search results.
Daffan elaborated on the tactics used by scammers: “What we see is that scammers will place paid advertisements and try to trick people into thinking that that’s the real contact information for a business or for a government agency even. And so that’s why it’s super important that people know to search and look for those natural search, not the paid ads.
If you have been personally scammed as Smoker has, don’t stand by! To create change in the industry, Daffan argued, it’s essential to report these wrongful acts to the FTC. “It is critically important for people to report scams to the FTC if it happens to you or someone you know, or even if you just see it in the marketplace,” she noted. “That is a huge public service because we and other law enforcement agencies use that information every day.”
Even if they all go right, the worst case still leaves Dan Smoker out of the money he lost. His experience showcases the flaws in our customer service avenues and it should remind all consumers to be on guard when communicating with companies.
