A Qantas customer lost $600 to scammers before getting the money back after politely calling them and asking.
Paul Stewart received a text message informing him that his Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney had been cancelled last Wednesday.
Mr Stewart wanted to book a flight home as soon as possible and called the 1800 number contained in the text message.
“I assumed it was Qantas so I gave them my booking reference and my name. That’s all anyone needs to access someone else’s booking details,” he said.
“They said I could either pay a fee and the flight would be rebooked for the next day, or I could wait a few days in LA and it would be done for free.”
Mr Stewart, wanting to get home as quickly as possible, gave the scammer his bank details and transferred $600, but within minutes the money was gone.
“They said all the right things. They seemed to know details about my booking,” he said.
Then Mr. Stewart began to suspect that the transaction might not be legitimate and decided to check again.
Paul Stewart (pictured) had his money stolen by the hacker after his Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Sydney was cancelled last Wednesday
He contacted Qantas on a different phone number and discovered he had been scammed. He was told that no booking fee should have been charged.
The employee also told him that Qantas had no record of his phone call with the customer service team in the US.
The 1800 number listed in the text message was registered in the United States.
People with an American SIM card are referred to the airline.
Mr Stewart was using an Australian SIM card, which meant he had to enter the area code (+1) to connect to the carrier in the US.
Instead, he called the number without an area code, meaning he was calling an Australian number which took him straight to the scammers.
Mr Stewart posted a message on Facebook urging Australian travellers to be aware of the scam.
He also said he got his money back from the scammer after speaking to them last week and politely explaining that he should not have been charged the fees.
“I suspect they just wanted me to go away and not file any further complaints. A happy ending for me,” Mr. Stewart wrote.
Mr Stewart used his Australian SIM card to call the number after receiving a text message saying the airline would send him new flight details (pictured)
Mr Stewart urged Australian tourists to be aware of the scam and said he got his money back after contacting the scammer and explaining he should not have been charged the fee (stock image)
Daily Mail Australia has learned that the fraudulent number has been deactivated and Qantas has reported the issue to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The scam has also been reported to the ACCC and the airline has updated its communications with customers, offering support to those affected.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas for further comment.
Customers are advised not to download files from scammers posing as Qantas.
The airline sends customers their booking details in PDF files, so travelers can download the document directly.
People who believe their identity and personal information may be at risk are urged to contact IDCARE.
You can report fraud to Scamwatch.