New type of airline miles fraud

An incredibly important post for those who are always looking for ways to save on tickets. This time, let’s talk about airline bonus miles fraud. Many airlines have bonus programs that give their customers miles for flights. The more you fly, the more miles you get. And then these miles can be used to pay for airline tickets partially or in full. You can also upgrade from economy to business class using miles. In general, it’s a good thing, especially for frequent flyers.

How fraudsters operate

You want to save on an airline ticket and are looking for any ways to do so. And then, on one of the forums, you find information about how someone bought miles from someone else and flew to Brazil for next to nothing. The review assures you that “the person is verified, I’m not buying miles for the first time.” As a result, they share the coveted contact with you, and you get in touch with the person.

But your benefactor, of course, is busy and cannot meet in person, so they suggest making the deal over the phone and transferring the money to a card or e-wallet. The terms of the deal are as favorable as possible, otherwise you wouldn’t agree. You transfer the money to them, and they “redeem” your ticket with their miles and send it to your email. It seems the deal is done, the ticket is in your inbox, and you happily pack your suitcase.

Problems surface later when you can’t check in for your flight. Then you contact support, explain the situation with the miles. But you don’t have the passport details of the person whose bonus miles were spent, and even the airline can’t help here. The “kind person’s” phones are unavailable, and there’s no trace of reviews about them left on forums. What to do? Either cancel the trip or urgently buy a new ticket yourself.

What actually happened?

The fraudster actually bought a ticket with miles first and sent you the ticket, and then simply recalled the miles and canceled the order. Whether these were actually his miles or if he hacked someone’s personal account is unknown. But the fact is, you were simply scammed out of your money.

How to protect yourself

Remember that airline bonus miles are not for sale. People accumulate them for years not to sell them, but to fly cheaper themselves.

If some stranger or an acquaintance of a stranger offers to book you a ticket using their miles — do not agree and run far away from them.

Yes, everyone wants to save on airline tickets, and even the most cautious people lose their vigilance because of this desire.

The same applies to promo codes. If some resources offer you to buy a promo code because it’s “unneeded” — do not agree. There’s a chance it’s already invalid. Use promo codes only from reliable and official sources — they are free there.