United Airlines is one of the major airlines in the United States and around the world. Given its large customer base, scammers frequently impersonate United Airlines in phishing attempts to steal personal and financial data. One ongoing scam involves fraudulent phone calls pretending to be United Airlines offering fake refunds. This United Airlines refund scam aims to trick victims into providing sensitive information that enables theft and fraud.
What is the United Airlines Refund Phone Call scam?
This scam starts with a phone call that spoofs an 855 area code number to appear like a legitimate United Airlines customer service line. Some of the numbers used include 855-918-2255 and other similar 855 numbers.
When victims answer the phone, an automated recording or an actual scammer claims to be a United Airlines representative. They say the call is regarding a flight refund owed to the recipient due to overcharges, canceled flights, or other fake reasons. The scammer requests personal information to process the supposed refund.
In reality, the callers have no relationship with United Airlines. They are simply impersonating the company in order to steal sensitive data. United will never proactively call customers about refunds – customers have to specifically request refunds themselves. Any unsolicited call of this nature is a scam attempt.
How does the United Airlines Refund Call scam work?
The purpose of the refund scam call is to prompt victims into providing personal identifying information and account numbers under the guise of processing a refund payout. The types of details requested include:
- Full name and date of birth
- Home address
- United Airlines customer account number
- Frequent flyer account number
- Credit card numbers
With this info, scammers can directly access financial accounts, make fraudulent purchases, or commit identity theft. In some cases, the scammers have a two-step scam where they first elicit personal info with the refund ploy, then state more funds are needed from the victim to finalize the fake refund. This gets the target to send their own money which is pocketed by the scammers.
This scam succeeds by taking advantage of people’s desire to save or make money. The promise of an airline refund tricks victims into temporarily lowering their guard and handing over data they should keep secure.
What to do if you get a United Airlines Refund scam call?
If you receive a suspicious call claiming to be United Airlines with a refund offer, do not provide any personal or financial information over the phone. Instead:
- Hang up immediately if the caller asks for sensitive details like account numbers, Social Security number, etc. United will never ask for this over the phone.
- Call the United Airlines customer service line directly to report the refund scam call. Their fraud department can then be alerted of scammers impersonating the company.
- Visit the United Airlines website and log into your account to check recent activity. Make sure no bookings or personal details have been improperly changed.
- Contact your credit card company and bank to monitor for any fraudulent charges or withdrawals and consider proactive account freezing if needed.
- Beware of any future calls related to the refund offer in case scammers attempt a follow-up scam. Do not return any voicemails left by potential scammers.
Being cautious protects you from having accounts drained or identity stolen by refund scammers. Remember, real refunds are never offered out of the blue over an unsolicited phone call.
Conclusion
The United Airlines refund scam tricks trusting consumers eager to save money into compromising personal data that can be used maliciously. Never return calls or provide info to any unsolicited outreach claiming to have refunds available. Legitimate businesses won’t cold call with monetary offers. Save yourself from headaches and financial loss by immediately hanging up on any sketchy refund calls to stop scammers in their tracks.
