A United Airlines passenger called after his flight got cancelled, and wound up getting scammed for $17,000. United initially denied involvement, saying he’d only called them briefly (13 minutes), but phone records showed him on the line for more than three hours.

It sounded like the customer was the victim of a travel agency scam – where fake agencies take over Google listings so you think you’re calling the airline, but you get them, and they charge you for things that should be free (like rebooking after a flight cancellation, or assigning seats). But this guy called United and wound up with a scam charge for $17,000 – processed by “AIRLINEFARE” not by United Airlines.

• The agent, posing as United, told him he needed to buy replacement tickets on Lufthansa for his family
  
• But that those tickets would be fully refunded because of the flight cancellation
  
• And he was given documentation to that effect.

Of course, since it was a scam agency and not United that charged him,he never got the refund. It was a mystery how this happened, until now. United Airlines now acknowledges that:

• the customer called them
  
• and got transferred to a scam agency by their agent.

Some of you thought that the agent did this intentionally, and was ‘in on it’ likely getting kickbacks. United says the agent was trying to be helpful, and looked up the phone number themselves on the internet rather than through United’s internal systems. According to the airline,

[A] United agent was doing her best to help Smoker, and because he was trying to book on another airline, the agent googled the other airline’s phone number and transferred him to a scammer by accident.

Here’s what’s shocking to me:

1. The United agent shouldn’t have needed to transfer the call to rebook a cancelled United flight on Lufthansa. There’s silence as to why the passenger was transferred in the first place.

2. The airline says the agent was ‘trying to be helpful’ and browsed the internet to find the right number for the transfer. I actually did not realize reservations agents used ccess to the open internet through their United software on calls (beyond ‘cobrowsing’ united.com) – I had understood they’d have internet access, usable on breaks, but they should know not to be doing this… the whole thing is fishy.

3. Despite the airline acknowledging they transferred the customer, telling the customer they were speaking to the correct agent, United will not make this right – committing only to work “with American Express” to do so. Indeed, being ‘committed to making this right’ would be simple if true as they’d just cover the cost.

That’s appalling. United should cover the cost to the customer immediately, and seek any further redress through appropriate channels. This was their agent’s screwup – whether the agent was ‘trying to help’ or ‘in on the scam’ and the customer should not have to wait. They own this.

It’s a good reminder though to be careful Googling airline phone numbers because scam travel agencies have corrupted the results. You call thinking you’re reaching your airline, but the person on the other end charges you for changes you are entitled to for free.

I’ve written about scammers taking over an old Singapore Airlines phone number and pretending to be Singapore Airlines agents when customers call. Scam travel agencies also buy Google ads to appear that you’ve found the airline’s phone number. I’ve seen this with United Airlines, JetBlue, Hawaiian and others.