The Way. The Truth. The Life.

Be Careful of Airline Customer Service Scams

Travelers will oftentimes seek to contact an airline’s customer service team to ask about seat assignments, flight status, and a host of other questions. Recently though, we have been made aware that some of our pilgrims are finding misinformation when searching the internet for their airline’s contact information.  

Scammers are posting misinformation on fake travel websites and also changing the phone numbers on the Google Business listings for major airline companies. When a customer dials these erroneous phone numbers, they are led to believe they are being put in touch with an actual airline agent, when it is fact a scam. Without realizing it, the customer could be providing personal information, credit card numbers, or other payment information to someone posing as an airline representative. 

To help address this issue, we have put together some simple tips as to how you can protect yourself from being a victim of these online scams: 

First, if you ever have questions or concerns about your upcoming pilgrimage flight, you can contact the 206 Tours team by calling 1-800-206-TOUR (8687) or by emailing: sales@206tours.com. Our staff will be happy to assist you and ensure that you have accurate information easily accessible. 

Should you wish to contact the airline for your upcoming flight yourself, always go directly to the airline’s official website to their “Contact Us” page, help center, or bottom of the home page to find the correct phone number. Do not use numbers on the company’s Google Business Listing as these numbers can sometimes be edited by scammers and replaced with a false phone number. Avoid finding phone numbers off of Google Ads, travel blogs, social media accounts, or other miscellaneous places online as these can be easily manipulated by hackers.  

Listen to your gut feelings. If you are being asked to pay to “reinstate your flight”, contact 206 Tours first as this is most likely a scam. If you need to rebook a flight and the representative on the phone tells you that you must pay significantly more than what your original flight cost, that might be an indication that it is a scam. If they ask you to pay with Venmo, a prepaid gift card, cryptocurrency, or by wire transfer rather than your actual credit card, this could be another indication. Sometimes the fake agent will try to say that customers will get “a special deal” if they pay with these alternative payment methods. They may also try to pressure you into feeling that you need to act quickly, or you will lose the opportunity. This should be an immediate red flag.  

Sometimes an airline’s call center and/or customer service desk at the airport has a particularly lengthy wait time. Instead of trying to call an alternative phone number (since you may instead dial a fake phone number), check to see if the airline has an online live chat option on their website or customer service email address as you may likely be able to get a quicker response through these channels. 

If you encounter a fraudulent helpline and live in the U.S., you can report the scam information to the Federal Trade Commission by clicking here. 

We know that air travel can sometimes be a challenging experience, especially when delays and cancellations occur. However stressful the situation may be, remain calm and follow these tips so that you do not accidentally become a victim of a scam. Ultimately, if you have any questions or hesitations about suspicious activity when finalizing details for your flight with 206 Tours, we encourage you to contact our team at 1-800-206-TOUR (8687) or by emailing sales@206tours.com so that we can assist you. 

View the Full 206 Tours Pilgrimage Directory: www.206tours.com/pilgrimages