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Is this a scam? (airline ticket refund)
5/18/2022 | self

Posted on 05/18/2022 3:30:40 PM PDT by Not_Who_U_Think

Pardon the vanity posting, but I have a question about a refund that I wonder is a scam. I would appreciate your input.

The story: I had a flight cancellation in March of 2020, a flight I had booked through CheapoAir I thought the money was gone, until a week ago, when I got an email saying they were processing my refund and needed 'additional information' and to please contact them.

So I did. The CSR, after getting my refund number transferred me to a lady, in billing. I give my name and billing address, and she then wanted the number of the card I used and I gave it to her, and she say 'that's correct. Now, I need the expiration and three digit number on the back.' I stop and say no, you don't need that for a refund. She responded by saying they would put a one dollar charge on the card, and if it went through, they would then refund the full amount.

I said no, I don't see why you need to do that, I don't want any charge to be placed on my card, just apply the refund. She explained this was the process, and I asked to speak to a super. Super is supposed to call me.

I just went on their website and can't find anything describing their refund process. It just smells to me. I have never had a company need to run a test charge through, unless I was linking two accounts between banks. And yet, it did seem to be the legitimate customer service department.

Pardon wasting your time, fellow freepers, but this just didn't seem right to me. Your thoughts?


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: scam
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

This cancelled was from 2020m, and you are just now talking about a refund? Call your credit card company and have them cancel that card, immediately. Never, ever call a number supplied by an email, without verifying it is a number to that company.


41 posted on 05/18/2022 4:24:41 PM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: BiglyCommentary
The scammers almost always have grammar errors.

You would surprised at some of the phish we get at my firm. The phishermen are definitely upping their game.

42 posted on 05/18/2022 4:31:08 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

I’d say contract your credit card company and see if they can help.

I’m assuming you still have the card but now has an updated expiration date and security code on the back.


43 posted on 05/18/2022 4:34:17 PM PDT by libertylover (Our BIGGEST problem, by far, is that most of the media is hate & agenda driven, not truth driven.)
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To: Not_Who_U_Think
"nothing wacky like a fake address." you have to inspect the full headers of the email to see whether the ACTUAL source address is fake ... full headers will look something like this: Subject: Guess what our new AncestryDNA feature can show you From: "Ancestry" Date: 5/18/2022, 12:32 PM To: Return-Path: Delivered-To: person@gmail.com Received: from box2202.bluehost.com by box2202.bluehost.com with LMTP id YGdMMtM7hWIcSAYAKSLzrg (envelope-from ) for ; Wed, 18 May 2022 12:32:51 -0600 Return-path: Envelope-to: person@gmail.com Delivery-date: Wed, 18 May 2022 12:32:51 -0600 Received: from mta5.email.ancestry.com ([13.111.33.31]:57298) by box2202.bluehost.com with esmtps (TLS1.2) tls TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (Exim 4.94.2) (envelope-from ) id 1nrOTb-001tjk-5C for person@gmail.com; Wed, 18 May 2022 12:32:51 -0600 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=200608; d=email.ancestry.com; h=From:To:Subject:Date:List-Help:MIME-Version:Reply-To:List-ID: X-CSA-Complaints:Message-ID:Content-Type; i=ancestry@email.ancestry.com; bh=pAbTS116vNt4ZLWnjZnEHI4A5/907hSRJOTUvWJjQ7I=; b=cynkWqflhKMshV1seXmU3ZytDQcZE84s025ZLfKsOFkpD9SJTbfVlO4rAKKfi7+5WJpwAUhSKayl GBcU2czAZPQaKTA0JCw88eX8XzieSUra/Y7+Mb02QC6qQdOW7gI+W8Dvp2jez11OcrrM4pPjqfH1 GcXFwMuoaO5XrJw7u3I= Received: by mta5.email.ancestry.com id hgktt62fmd41 for ; Wed, 18 May 2022 18:32:39 +0000 (envelope-from ) List-Help: x-CSA-Compliance-Source: SFMC MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: "Ancestry" List-ID: <10958478.xt.local> X-CSA-Complaints: csa-complaints@eco.de X-SFMC-Stack: 1 x-job: 10958478_109975 Message-ID: <6fa4e316-4068-4148-9863-8e47c8f3d709@ind1s01mta621.xt.local> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="s3Ix30ZdriLE=_?:" X-Spam-Status: No, score=-18.1 X-Spam-Score: -180 X-Spam-Bar: ------------------ X-Spam-Flag: NO
44 posted on 05/18/2022 4:38:01 PM PDT by catnipman (In a post-covid world, ALL "science" is now political science: stolen elections have consequences)
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

“...when I got an email saying they were processing my refund...”

So they were sending you an email meaning they already had the information from the purchase in the original transaction as they would have had your email to send it. If they had your email, they would have had your card number and security code already to identify the purchase. Why would they be asking for something they already had that they needed to get to you this time? Not really inventive. Sounds like they phished an email from someone and are passing the buck.

wy69


45 posted on 05/18/2022 4:40:05 PM PDT by whitney69
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

“...when I got an email saying they were processing my refund...”

So they were sending you an email meaning they already had the information from the purchase in the original transaction as they would have had your email to send it. If they had your email, they would have had your card number and security code already to identify the purchase. Why would they be asking for something they already had that they needed to get to you this time? Not really inventive. Sounds like they phished an email from someone and are passing the buck.

wy69


46 posted on 05/18/2022 4:40:05 PM PDT by whitney69
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

The English doesn’t quite read like a native English speaker.

It’s off and has capitalization in weird places.

This sentence, for example, doesn’t read right. I would expect more professional grammar.

“ Our most recent attempt to get in touch with you was on 05/17/2022 18:56:26 (EST), unfortunately could not speak with you.”

That is not good English grammar by any means. The grammar being off to me is a HUGE indicator that this is from someone outside the US.


47 posted on 05/18/2022 4:54:18 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith… )
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

I paid for a r/t international ‘non-refundable’ ticket and couldn’t use it because the flight was canceled due to covid. In addition, my destination country wasn’t letting in any tourists. After asking for a refund I got everything back in a couple of months.


48 posted on 05/18/2022 4:56:43 PM PDT by JPG (Boost this.)
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To: colorado tanker

Grammar errors are a hard flag. Lack of grammar errors is not indicative.


49 posted on 05/18/2022 4:58:28 PM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

Yeah. In addition to typos, there are quite a few instances of awkward English. And I’ve never heard any business use the term “the Billings Department.”


50 posted on 05/18/2022 4:58:38 PM PDT by JennysCool ("It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." - Mark Twain)
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

Call them again and make up a name or use my alias, Bernhard Longer. See if Bernhard has a refund coming too!

I will guarantee that he does!!


51 posted on 05/18/2022 5:05:52 PM PDT by Bartholomew Roberts
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To: Not_Who_U_Think
This is in reference to your booking number (redacted) for Refund.

To process the refund, we need some additional information related to your booking. Our most recent attempt to get in touch with you was on 05/17/2022 18:56:26 (EST), unfortunately could not speak with you.


These two lines give them away.

(The English is poor and the time incorrect; if they felt a need to identify the time zone they would have correctly identified it as Eastern Daylight Time.)

I suggest contacting Cheapo Air and informing them of an apparent security breach and cancelling your credit card.

52 posted on 05/18/2022 5:16:16 PM PDT by Captain Walker ("If you think tough men are dangerous, wait until you see what weak men are capable of."- J Peterson)
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To: Not_Who_U_Think
Smells of SCAM!
53 posted on 05/18/2022 5:31:13 PM PDT by entropy12
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To: Night Hides Not

I received 2 emails tonight from PayPal for a charge...$450 or so, same product. Both emails were absolutely perfect and contained a PDF “bill” (didn’t open). Checking the header info, the emails were sent to an address I own...but not the address I use strictly for PayPal. Deleted them.


54 posted on 05/18/2022 5:47:27 PM PDT by moovova
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

Never use the link in the email! Go to the account on line that you know is authentic. I get PayPal, McAfee and all kinds of scams on email……never use their link.


55 posted on 05/18/2022 5:48:06 PM PDT by Greenidgypsy
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

It is a total scam. Cancel that card immediately.


56 posted on 05/18/2022 5:55:53 PM PDT by TheWriterTX (Trust not in earthly princes....!)
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To: moovova

Smart move, and I guarantee you you’ll see it again.


57 posted on 05/18/2022 5:59:16 PM PDT by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Gonzales! Come and Take It!)
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To: Col Frank Slade

That’s the best way to go.


58 posted on 05/18/2022 6:52:40 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: moovova

One phishing attempt I got was how I needed to confirm my account/password for some site/account. It almost sounded legit. The sender’s address looked legit on the email app, but inside the email it was broken out and was some Korean-sounding name @ some Korean-sounding domain. No way. But I see how someone could be fooled long enough to fall for it.


59 posted on 05/18/2022 6:53:24 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest )
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To: Not_Who_U_Think

It is a scam however if you are bored just play along with the game. Act like you are stupid but cooperative. Never give them a number from your card, never. Just keep asking stupid questions and ask for explanations. It is also amusing to feign being hard of hearing which I am. I hear perfectly with my hearing aids.

Most of these scams come from India. When I discern the guy on the other end realizes I am playing him I say, “Baka Vas Aur Maro.” The translation would not be acceptable on Free Republic.

ps
I had one of the scams call me back and cuss me out in two languages one of which was English. I called this a win!


60 posted on 05/18/2022 7:39:29 PM PDT by cpdiii (CANE CUTTER-DECKHAND-ROUGHNECK-OILFIELD CONSULTANT-GEOLOGIST-PILOT-PHARMACIST )
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