Today is the fifth day of the National Day holiday. Some people are still traveling and looking forward to the scenery at the next stop, while others have already packed their bags and bought their return tickets. However, with the increase in travel passenger flow, ticket cancellations and changes, flight delays, luggage loss and damage, etc. also occur from time to time. But have you ever thought that a so-called airline customer service claims phone number that can accurately report your flight information and personal information may empty your pocket unknowingly? How do we identify genuine and fake airline customer service? How do scammers transfer money from victims’ bank cards? How to stop the loss in time after the money is transferred? Let’s get to know the ticket cancellation and rebooking scams together.
I was defrauded of more than 10,000 yuan when my flight was delayed and I received a "claim"
Recently, Huang, a college student in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, received such a call from customer service stating that "the travel information is completely accurate". In just ten minutes, Huang's 16,000 yuan disappeared. Let’s take a look at what happened to Mr. Huang?
In just over ten minutes, all the funds in Huang's bank card balance and online loan limit were emptied. After discovering that she had been deceived, she panicked and immediately called the police.
Victim Huang: The plane needed to be delayed. He wanted me to receive delay compensation, so he wanted to transfer money to me. After the transfer was completed, because I was a student, the only card I commonly used was a debit card like the one from the college, but the college’s card couldn’t be transferred, so he used other methods to help me transfer it. Then I was confused by him at first because it had a lot of steps. I wanted to see if the refund had arrived in my account at that time, but when I opened it, I found that the more than 16,000 yuan in my card was gone.
The police have launched an investigation and the case is under further investigation.
Is mastering flight and personal information the real airline customer service?
The scammer pretended to be the airline's customer service. After a few calls, Huang's account password was inexplicably invalid, and her bank card balance disappeared out of thin air. How did she fall into the scammer's trap step by step? Let’s look at the police investigation.
Victim Huang: The caller's number was a cross-border number starting with 00. After the call was connected, the caller said he was the airline's customer service. I didn't hear anything wrong at the time. The caller's tone was still very sincere and professional, and he accurately reported my name, flight number, and departure time.
Since the flight information the other party had was completely accurate, and his words were in line with regular civil aviation service scenarios, the unsuspecting student Huang immediately dismissed all doubts and focused on completing the change as soon as possible to avoid delaying the trip.
Victim Huang: This "customer service" guided me step by step, because he said it was quite complicated, and said that I couldn't handle it alone, and that he could help me handle it remotely. I agreed, and he sent me a link and asked me to download a remote conferencing software in this link.
Police officer Yu Boxiang of Shaobo Police Station of Jiangdu Branch of Yangzhou Public Security Bureau: At that time, the victim had an App called "Collaboration Assistant" installed on his mobile phone. This is a video conferencing software. You can participate in the meeting by directly entering the conference number without registration, and it supports sharing the mobile phone screen.
Victim Huang: Notified me by phone and told me the conference number. Then I entered the remote conference and turned on the screen sharing function on my mobile phone. It was said that it could help me remotely check the information and complete the claim approval.
According to Huang's recollection, she clicked into an operation interface that was counterfeited by the "Civil Aviation Administration of China" and was then guided into an online meeting and turned on "screen sharing." The moment screen sharing is turned on, all the information on her phone is exposed to the scammer's view. Every word entered on the screen, every text message verification code that pops up, and various account information are monitored in real time and stolen throughout the entire process.
Victim Huang: After sharing the screen, the other party's "customer service" sent me a link. When I opened it, the airline's website page was displayed, and the customer service asked people to fill in personal information. During this period, I received a lot of verification codes on my mobile phone. I also asked the customer service, and the customer service told me that they were used to confirm the information.
Yu Boxiang, a police officer from Shaobo Police Station of Jiangdu Branch of Yangzhou Public Security Bureau: After sharing the mobile phone screen, the victim is induced to open a phishing website, and on the pretext of confirming identity information, the victim is asked to enter personal information, mobile phone verification code, etc. to delay the transfer operation, and finally transfer all the money.
Revealing the four major tricks of ticket refund and rebooking scams
A customer service call with a sincere tone and accurate flight information can make anyone put down their guard and fall into the trap of a scammer. Civil aviation passenger traffic is concentrated during the holidays, and telecom fraud involving ticket refunds, changes, and flight delay claims has entered a period of high incidence.
The police suggest that this type of scam also uses the same routine:
The first step is to confuse people with accurate information and pretend to be official customer service. Scammers have your name, flight, and departure time, lie about flight cancellation or delay, and use compensation claims for rebooking as bait to undermine your vigilance.
The second step is to send a phishing link and fake the official civil aviation website. It is used to fake the official website page, induce you to fill in identity information and bank card information, and steal personal privacy in the background.
The third step is to induce downloading of software and enable screen sharing. They are induced to download unofficial apps on the pretext of remotely assisting with business operations. As long as the screen sharing function is turned on, all personal privacy will be directly exposed to the scammers.
The last step is to delay time, induce online loans, and drain all the funds.
Police tip: How to identify ticket refund and rebooking scams?
Looking back on the whole scam, the scammers have accurately calculated people's anxiety about traveling. They can set many traps with just a phone call, a few links, and a small screen sharing function. So, how to quickly identify the authenticity of this ticket refund and rebooking scam and avoid being fooled? Let's listen to the police's tips.
Chen Peng, Captain of the Criminal Investigation and Anti-Terrorism Brigade of Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport Public Security Bureau: We must remember the three nos. Do not trust unknown calls, do not click on unknown links, and do not transfer money to private accounts. Official airline customer service will never call you to induce you to download unfamiliar software or enable screen sharing, nor will they ask for verification codes or bank card passwords. Don’t be gullible when you receive such calls. Please handle flight changes and claims through the airline’s official app and the airport counter. Any service that requires you to transfer money before doing anything is a scam. Once you are defrauded, please call 96110 anti-fraud hotline as soon as possible to recover losses as much as possible.
It is said online that you can buy low-cost air tickets with employee passwords. Is it reliable?
When traveling in the summer, everyone hopes to buy cost-effective air tickets. Recently, a blogger posted a video claiming that you can buy low-cost air tickets with an "employee password". You only need to search for a string of numbers on some online travel platforms or small programs to find the "benefit price" of air tickets. Is this statement reliable?
On social media platforms, some bloggers "revealed" to netizens how to search for "employee internal prices" of air tickets. By entering a string of 5 or 6 digit passwords on different platforms, you can find "missed price" air tickets. There are many bloggers who appear in uniforms that look like airline or airport staff.
Within the reporter's search range, the "employee password" or so-called "discount code" provided by each blogger is different. The reporter entered these numbers into the corresponding fields one by one. It was found on the platform that terms such as "100-yuan low-price air tickets for a limited time", "low-price air tickets real-time radar", "100-200 popular route welfare prices" will automatically appear under the search box. After clicking, you will enter the "100-yuan air tickets" and other special event interfaces. After the reporter registered as a new user, he received discounts such as domestic and international air ticket coupons or air ticket fuel coupons ranging from 20 yuan to 40 yuan on the above interface. He also saw a list of so-called special air tickets. However, the reporter also searched for air tickets on the list with the same date and flight through normal search channels and found that there was no difference in price between the two.
The customer service of a platform mentioned by many bloggers responded that they had received the same feedback from some users before, but the platform did not notify of an "internal price."
Platform customer service: We also tried to enter the specified number according to the customer feedback, and it will indeed jump to a new air ticket price interface. The coupon must be a coupon from our platform, and the price will indeed be partially discounted, but there is not a huge discount, and it is not much different from the original price.
Industry insiders: The so-called “employee benefits” are actually traffic marketing
According to industry insiders, judging from the actual situation of the industry, the so-called "internal passwords" and "employee welfare tickets" are actually a channel marketing method used by the platform.
Industry insider Lin Yiyuan (pseudonym): These passwords are just jump marks for the platform to set up activities. Ordinary consumers can enter the activity page after inputting them. The words "employees only" that appear on the page are more labels used by the platform to distinguish "activity packages" from different channels. This kind of statement has a strong sense of gimmickness and is easily amplified and spread by self-media, such as packaging it as "internal price" or "hidden channel" to gain traffic.
Many practitioners confirmed that the "internal tickets" and "employee tickets" mentioned by these bloggers are essentially just special tickets and discount tickets that can be found through public channels.
Industry insider Lin Yiyuan (pseudonym): This type of coupon itself is real and usable, but there are generally barriers to use. For example, it will limit some travel times, including air routes, etc., and can only be deducted for part of the amount, and will not change the original basic fare of the airline.
In other words, even if you receive a coupon of 20 yuan to 40 yuan, you must carefully read the rules and restrictions when purchasing tickets before completing the order. So, who decides the air ticket prices that users see on different channels and platforms? Is there really a huge price difference transmitted online?
Lin Zhijie, a distinguished expert from the China Air Transport Association: The price of air tickets is uniformly announced by airlines. Whether it is the official website, official app, OTA, or offline agent, theoretically the price is basically unified. Sometimes there may be some small subsidies, but if there is a discount of tens or even hundreds of dollars, the ticket is very suspicious.
Expert: Be careful if air tickets are unusually low, you may not be able to take the flight
Experts particularly remind passengers that when purchasing air tickets, if they encounter an unusually low price, they must be careful. These may be illegal tickets, and they may not be able to fly with these tickets. We would also like to remind you to be more vigilant when purchasing air tickets. A safe approach is to ask the airline’s customer service to verify the authenticity and call to ask whether the air ticket you purchased is a compliant ticket to avoid delaying your trip.
