ANDOur flight has been delayed as a result of the Middle East crisis and you want to know what’s going on, so you search online for an answer. You find a social media account run by the airline you booked with, post a question, and receive a response offering help.
You are asked to send a direct message with details, which seems reasonable. A conversation is initiated and you are asked to provide your phone number as you may be owed compensation. This is where everything starts to go wrong: instead of giving you money, they take it from you. Although it looked official, the account that responded was a scam.
Fake airline accounts are not new, but scammers have taken advantage of the disruption caused by the Iran war to target people around the world, setting up scams in the name of airlines hardest hit by the crisis.
Santander says it has already heard from customers who were caught up in cancellations and delays, and then caught out by scammers. On social media site X, customers say they have been contacted by accounts allegedly run by airlines Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates.
Chris Ainsley, director of fraud risk management at Santander UK, said: “Fraudsters are quick to exploit uncertainty and the disruption to travel caused by the conflict in the Middle East is no exception.
“We are already seeing criminals targeting people seeking refunds for booked trips and holidays, sending them a link to supposedly receive a refund, but instead people’s accounts are charged.”
What the scam looks like
The scammer has created what looks like a legitimate account for an airline; It will usually have the logo on the top. The account name could include the name of the airline or be something generic like support team, quick response team, or guest services.
The account description may ask you to share your email address or phone number, or there may be no details at all.
While you may come across the account while searching for help, scammers typically scan social media for riders who are trying to contact legitimate accounts and respond by offering help. This can make it harder to detect that the message is coming from a scammer.
You will be asked to share your details in a direct message. The scammer will then contact you, claiming to be from the airline, and tell you they can process a refund. They will send you a link to a money transfer app and ask you to use your digital wallet to accept the refund. Once they have all of this in place, instead of paying you, they will debit your account.
to do
Be very careful with any social media accounts that you don’t find through the airline’s website or another source that you know is legitimate. When an airline has a separate social media account for customer service questions, it will usually include the name in the description of the main account.
If any account responds to your post, check the name to make sure it’s the real account.
When you click on a fake account’s page, the number of followers will be very low, usually in the single digits. This is a warning sign.
Do not provide payment information or passwords. Etihad has posted a warning to customers on If they ask you for any of this, don’t hand it over.
Ainsley says: “Always look for updates on the airline or travel companies’ official website or the Foreign Office website.”
