At a time when airline customers in India are already battling flight delays, glitches and cancellations, a new scam seems set to be posing another headache for those booking flights.
A Noida-based Indigo customer discovered that his flight reservation, which included eight tickets for his family and cost Rs 72,600, had been canceled without his permission after disclosing his PNR to an airline trainee who contacted him through Indigo's official X handle.
Cisco software engineer Nishith Chaturvedi that the incident occurred on January 7, just hours before his family's flight from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi was scheduled to depart, as per a Moneycontrol report.
"I was trying to do the web check-in around 1 am on January 7 when I saw that auto-assignment of seats was not available. Frustrated with having to pay extra money for seats again, I sent a message to Indigo's official X handle via DM," the 39-year-old said.
He shared the PNR with Diyashi, a customer service representative, and heard back from her a few minutes later.?The company he had purchased his tickets through, Cleartrip, informed him via email at 1:38 a.m. that they had been canceled.
Shocked, Chaturvedi dialed the Indigo customer service number right away, but got minimal assistance.
Representatives from Cleartrip also said they had nothing to do with the cancellation. Subsequently, Indigo notified Chaturvedi that an individual had modified his email address and registered phone number within their systems. They asked Chaturvedi to reserve a new set of tickets and promised to look into the matter and reimburse the money if they were found to be at fault.
Finally, around 4 pm, Indigo informed him that a refund was initiated and Cleartrip would return the original booking amount to him. It was later confirmed by the booking agency via email.
Meanwhile, he and his family spent the night at the airport in Thiruvananthapuram waiting for the Indigo and Cleartrip authorities to resolve the matter. The software engineer also commented on Indigo's refusal to admit to a security lapse in this case.?
Also Read:?How Do?Airports?In India Earn Money?
Book directly through the official or trusted third party site or app
With so many apps and websites claiming to offer flight tickets with attractive deals, it's important as a customer to not click and purchase tickets from just any random website. Only book flight from trusted websites/apps to avoid being scammed. You can also purchase tickets from the airline's official website/app.
Stay away from 'too good to be true' deals
Avoid falling for free or heavily discounted flight tickets claiming to be offered on social media or emails. If they seem too good to be true, don't ignore this red flag. It's always better to contact the airline directly before believing any such offer.
Beware of fake flight cancellation calls/emails
Another form of scam being conducted is of fake flight cancellation calls, SMS or e-mails. Again, the key is to avoid clicking on any link or taking any action until you contact and confirm from the airline itself. Also make sure never share any information, be it your PNR, flight cost, airline name, payment mode etc to anyone claiming to be the airline's representative on email, call or social media.
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