{"id":73004,"date":"2025-08-18T14:55:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cxtoday.com\/?p=73004"},"modified":"2025-10-19T10:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T09:04:02","slug":"a-scammer-hijacks-united-airlines-customer-support-line-costing-the-victim-17k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cxtoday.com\/contact-center\/a-scammer-hijacks-united-airlines-customer-support-line-costing-the-victim-17k\/","title":{"rendered":"A Scammer Hijacks United Airlines\u2019 Customer Support Line, Costing the Victim $17k"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In this day and age, somebody getting scammed over the phone doesn\u2019t usually make headlines, but there\u2019s something unique and troubling about Dan Smoker\u2019s incident with United Airlines. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Stop us if you\u2019ve heard this one before: a customer called up a company and ended up accidentally sending money to a bad actor. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It isn\u2019t quite a tale as old as time, but it\u2019s certainly been around for as long as telephony customer service has been. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In most cases, the customer uses an internet search to find\u00a0the company\u2019s contact number and is redirected to a scam line or receives a call directly from the scammer impersonating the company. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However, in this instance, Smoker has proof that he only ever dialed the United Airlines\u2019 official customer service number, so how exactly did he end up losing over $17,000? <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>A Series of Usual and Unusual Events<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As he was about to embark on a European family holiday, Smoker\u2019s flight was cancelled. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Most people will have experienced something similar at some point during their travels. While it is unfortunate and can be very irritating, it is usually a fairly straightforward process. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Smoker contacted the official United Airlines customer service number to try to\u00a0rebook a flight for himself and his family. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">During his three-hour-plus phone call, Smoker was able to rebook the flights and upgrade to premium economy. The service agent confirmed that they would have to charge Smoker for the new tickets, but that he would be able to get a full refund. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Following the call, Smoker received an email confirmation with details of the new flights and the refund.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It all sounds pretty uneventful so far, but this is where things took a turn.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Months later, the refund never appeared.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">After checking over his credit card statement, Smoker noticed that the $17,000 charge was listed under AIRLINEFARE, rather than United Airlines. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">At this point, he suspected he may have been the victim of a scam and reached out to <strong>Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger<\/strong>.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Staegar reviewed Smoker\u2019s call log and confirmed that he had contacted the official United Airlines number, but he did notice several irregularities with the email confirmation. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;When I read that refund email, I spotted red flags almost immediately, like the email didn\u2019t come from a United Airlines email address,&#8221; he said in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=I5ANKogeGiM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">appearance on Denver, Colorado\u2019s 9News<\/a>. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The format is weird, some numbers with zeros in front of them, dollars always listed in USD, dates with day in front of the month.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">I figured Dan had been taken advantage of.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But, if Smoker only ever contacted United, how did this happen? <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">During the call, Smoker recalls being placed on hold by a female agent. When the call returned, it had been passed on to a new male agent named \u2018David\u2019. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It looks like this is where the scammer must have made contact, as United later confirmed that although they did have a record of Smoker\u2019s call, it had only been logged on their side for 12 minutes \u2013 not the three hours that Smoker\u2019s call log shows. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The airline has launched an internal review but cannot yet explain how the line was diverted to a scammer or why their own records showed a far shorter interaction.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In the meantime, Smoker has filed a fraud report with his card provider as he waits for answers. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">However, Smoker has stated that &#8220;it\u2019s not even about United paying the $17,000,&#8221; he just wants to know how he contacted United Airlines but ended up being on the phone with \u2018David\u2019.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>How Enterprises Can Avoid the Same Pitfalls<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">While the United Airlines mess has yet to fully untangle itself and is undoubtedly a unique instance, there are still wider customer experience and service lessons to be learned. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For enterprises, the story should be viewed as more than just a one-off scam; it\u2019s an example of what happens when customers can\u2019t trust the channels you control.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Contact numbers, live chat links, and social handles serve as signals of credibility. If those signals are hijacked or left vulnerable, the brand becomes part of the problem.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">So, what can enterprises do?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">First, agent education is critical. In this case, the agent could have been manipulated into forwarding the customer to a fraudster. As such, contact center leaders must offer agents a clear escalation path if they are ever threatened into following a scam, so they never feel alone and coerced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s not an unusual occurrence. Many customer service leaders will tell stories of their agents being threatened in the car park to share sensitive information.<\/p>\n<p>There is also the chance that the agent did this of their own free will. Given this risk, service leaders should engage with their tech partners to ensure they can block external transfers or add a permissions layer.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, contact centers should tighten their verification processes. <span data-contrast=\"auto\">That means securing their digital footprint across search engines, directories, and social platforms, making sure customers aren\u2019t falling into lookalike traps.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">From there, they must build redundancy into their trust markers. Caller ID authentication, clear callback protocols, and two-step verification for financial transactions are no longer \u2018nice-to-haves&#8217;; they\u2019re essentials.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Equally, enterprises need to think about customer communication. When customers don\u2019t know how to tell the difference between a real agent and an impostor, silence becomes a risk.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Proactive education \u2013 whether it\u2019s a line in the IVR, a banner on the support site, or consistent messaging in email receipts \u2013 can go a long way in this regard.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">At its core, this is about recognizing that the support channel isn\u2019t just a service function; it\u2019s the front line of brand integrity.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">If customers can\u2019t trust the number they call, everything else comes undone.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this day and age, somebody getting scammed over the phone doesn\u2019t usually make headlines, but there\u2019s something unique and troubling about Dan Smoker\u2019s incident with United Airlines. \u00a0 Stop us if you\u2019ve heard this one before: a customer called up a company and ended up accidentally sending money to a bad actor. \u00a0 It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4983,"featured_media":73005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11850,62065],"class_list":["post-73004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contact-center","category-security-privacy-compliance","tag-fraud","tag-security-and-compliance","tag-travel-and-hospitality","tag-user-experience","tag-voice-of-the-customer","brands_to_track-cx-today","editorial_type-feature","editorial_type-news","intent-evaluation","intent-loyalty","target_audience-dual"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Scammer Hijacks United Airlines\u2019 Customer Support Line, Costing the Victim $17k - CX Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CX Today covers Contact Center &amp; 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