“That’s new”: Woman tries calling American Airlines. Then she gets scammed out of $5,250
This American Airlines customer thought she was too young and smart to get scammed—until this one phone call changed everything.
This mom got taken advantage of by scammers while trying to get accommodations for her autistic child.
"It would never happen to me," you assure yourself.
You've heard the horror stories—sketchy emails, spoofed phone numbers, fake IRS letters. But you're tech-savvy and know the signs. You're not the type to get fooled. Right?
That's what this woman thought, until one phone call cost her family thousands of dollars.
Now she's hoping her story can serve as a warning to others that even the sharpest among us can get caught off guard.
American Airlines scam PSA
In a trending video with more than 47,000 views, mom Haylee (@https_butts) shares how she fell victim to a scam to the tune of $5,250.
"I like to consider myself a pretty smart person. Apparently, I was not one last night," Haylee says.
She explains that she and her family are traveling on a cruise in a few months and just booked their flights through American Airlines.
She notes this is her first time traveling with kids, specifically her daughter and niece, who are both on the autism spectrum. To make the travel process easier and create a better experience for the girls, Haylee says she went ahead and called American to see if there were any accommodations they could get.
She says she clicked the first number that showed up for American but didn't notice that the page got rerouted. That's the first red flag.
When she got connected to someone, she says she gave them the confirmation numbers (there are 11 people total, with six on one reservation and five on the other). She says they were able to pull up all of the info. They even know the last four digits of the cards used, she recalls.
A second card
Seems legit enough, Haylee thought.
She says the man on the phone gave her the "good news" that he can get Haylee $150 off per person (that's $1,650 in savings), priority boarding, and seats at the front of the plane.
The catch? He tells her that to do this, he has to "refund" the order (which would take 7-20 business days) and recharge Haylee.
It probably already clicked for you. Haylee is never seeing that refund and is instead just handing over money to this scammer.
Haylee says she gave him her credit card. And after 10 minutes on hold, she says the scammer said that the card didn't work and that he needs a different one. So she says she handed over her husband's card.
"Saying this back now, I'm such an idiot," Haylee repeats.
When did she realize its a scam?
She says the person sent a receipt to her email, and the company listed isn't American Airlines but "Flight Trip."
Once off the phone, Haylee says she logged into her American Airlines account to check her flight. She says she assumed her tickets would no longer be valid since they supposedly got refunded and moved.
But the flights and original seating were still intact.
That's when she finally got hold of America's real phone number and recounted the whole situation.
"She sounds horrified," Haylee says about the American Airlines customer service agent. She says the agent also urged her to dispute the charge on her credit card, which Haylee did.
The agent also locked Haylee's tickets so no changes could be made online and password protected them, she recalls.
"Now we're waiting to find out if we're going to be able to get that charge taken off," Haylee says.
How to avoid this American Airlines scam
Haylee put it best: "Lesson learned, if you're gonna call customer service for any company, make sure you're getting it from the website. Don't just trust Google to give you the correct phone number," she says.
Commenters react
"But you called them to be scammed… that’s new," a top comment read.
"Your first hint should be that they were willing to help," a person said.
"Never click the sponsored links at the top of google searches," another warned.
"There’s no way your CC won’t reverse the charges. You called immediately. They should have flagged that amount of money the first time!" a commenter pointed out.
The Daily Dot reached out to Haylee for comment via TikTok direct message and comment, and to American via email.
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The post “That’s new”: Woman tries calling American Airlines. Then she gets scammed out of $5,250 appeared first on The Daily Dot.