Passenger speaks out after falling victim to airline scamA passenger is sharing his story after being the victi…Show more
A United Airlines passenger claims he was scammed of $17,000 after a United customer service agent unknowingly transferred his call to a scammer.
Dan Smoker, a resident of Denver, said he called the United Airlines customer service number to rebook the flight for him and his family after it was cancelled due to a mechanical issue in May.
Smoker said he was first connected to a United agent to whom he explained the situation and was put on hold, and was then connected to another person who identified himself as “David,” who he says turned out to be the scammer. Smoker said he explained the whole situation to David again and asked to be rebooked on a Lufthansa flight from Denver to Munich, Germany. United and Lufthansa are codeshare partners.
According to Smoker, David informed Smoker that he was unable to change the booking, but if he was willing to pay for a new booking right then, he would be refunded for the new flights later on.
Desperate to rescue his family’s vacation, Smoker says he agreed, thinking he would be refunded. After Smoker was put on hold, he said David came back on the line, now saying there were no seats available on that flight, but ultimately ended up rebooking Smoker and his family on a flight to London from Denver with a stop in Newark.
“It turns out David called them [United] that morning and worked with their call center people to ultimately get me rebooked. So he put me on hold. He called United and then worked with a United agent to rebook me and my family,” Smoker said.
Smoker said he paid $17,000 through a payment link provided by David, which he thought was a legitimate United payment link. He later told ABC News that he did not find the link suspicious, as he’s used a payment link for United in the past.
Looking back, Smoker said he realized it was a different link than that of those he’d previously seen.
Smoker said he believed the URL for a payment link should have been a direct pathway through United.com with clear language and direction for the customer.
Smoker said he was informed by David that the refund would be processed within one billing cycle and was sent an email, which was seen by ABC News, that detailed all the refund and payment information.
When it came time to pay his bill, and the refund had still not been processed by July, Smoker said he called David on the direct number he had provided to him. David answered the call and told Smoker he should have gotten the refund and that he needed 24 hours to look into the matter. Smoker said he never heard back from David, and when he tried calling him back, his number had been blocked by David.
Smoker posted on social media, asking United when it will refund his $17,000 and what was going on? Local Denver news station, 9News, which was first to report this story, saw Smoker’s post and quickly figured out Smoker had been scammed.
After learning he may have been scammed, Smoker reached out to United to confirm if the $17,000 charge was in United’s system, but was informed by the airline that the last charge from this card to the airline was $17 and was made three years ago.
Smoker then filed a report with United Airlines and says he was initially told by United that he had probably dialed the wrong number. Smoker pushed back, saying he called the correct number and says he sent United a PDF with all the information.
“I know it. I know I called the right number,” Smoker told ABC. “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.”
Smoker said that’s when United realized it must have been something within its system and was informed that the airline is conducting a full investigation into the matter. Smoker also said the airline refunded him for the upgrades and the hotel booking, but not the $17,000, since that was not charged by United. Smoker said he disputed the $17,000 charge on his American Express card and is hopeful he will get the money back.