Google Search tricks passengers into using expensive scam agencies – Check airline numbers before calling
Be careful when Googling airline phone numbers, as rogue travel agents have spoofed the results. You call thinking you’re reaching your airline, but the person on the other end of the line charges you for changes you’re entitled to for free – like a new flight if your flight was cancelled, or seat reservations.
Here’s someone whose 17-year-old son’s American Airlines flight was canceled. He called an airline he thought was American Airlines, “and ended up paying $250 more for the return ticket.”
I’m on the phone with American right now (on hold) and the next available flight they can book for him is tomorrow with Delta. Where is he staying for the night, will they provide him with a place to stay? He’s 17 and lives in Boston. Thanks for all the info!
Update: We got him a ticket home for tomorrow and the college where he was doing a summer music program approved his stay there for an extra night. In my panic I made a mistake and thought I would call American Airlines but instead I called a third party reservation company posing as American and ended up paying $250 more for the ticket home. I double checked with Delta and the ticket is legit. Thanks for the help and suggestions!
I wrote about scammers who take over an old Singapore Airlines phone number and pretend to be Singapore Airlines employees when calling customers. The scammers charge high fees for basic services that the airline normally provides for free.
In the meantime, a former boss of mine was scammed with a phone number for Delta provided by your travel agent. The employees, posing as Delta, demanded $1,000 from her to rebook her and her granddaughter on next-day flights when their original flight plan was canceled. (Delta Air Lines surprisingly covered the cost after 9 months.)
Fraudulent travel agents buy Google ads to make it look like you’ve found the airline’s phone number. They do this for United Airlines, JetBlue, Hawaiian, and others. You’ll be connected to a travel agency that has a one-star rating and an F rating from the Better Business Bureau.
It turns out that there is another variant of this scam: the agency receives Google’s search results for the airline at a specific airport changed to show their phone number. You think you are calling your airline’s “JFK” number, but it is the same agency scam.
Don’t trust Google search results for airline phone numbers. You need to go to the airline’s website itself and look up their number.
