Desperate travellers seeking advice from airlines through social media are leaving themselves potentially exposed to scammers.

UK consumer group Which? has raised the alarm on scammers making use of bogus social media handles to swindle people online, and it should serve as a warning to Australians heading to Europe this summer.

According to Which? scammers are making accounts that look like a major UK-based airline and use similar language when communicating with people on X.

The organisation previously warned people about scammers pretending to be representatives from EasyJet in 2023.

The likeness of British budget airline, EasyJet, has been used by scammers. Photo: Getty

Why the scam works

Imagine you’re having some sort of issue with your flight, you’re stressed and in need of answers fast.

There isn’t enough time to stand in the airline’s queue at the airport, or you’re en route and can’t get a human from the airline on the phone. So, in a panic, you turn to social media for answers.

The scam is simple. Someone tries getting in touch with an airline through social media, usually with a question related to their travel.

The airline’s legitimate social media account might not reply, but a bogus account that at first glance looks to be legitimate might.

The scam isn’t necessarily trying to get huge sums of money from a victim. Instead, the scammer is after something more valuable – personal details, emails, bank details, maybe even passwords.

The scam could be particularly effective when people are stressed.

Monica Whitty is Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security at Monash University. She told TND these types of scams are effective, because they evoke a very human reaction.

“When you urgently need to do something, you probably won’t go through all the checks that you normally might do,” she said, of the bogus airline scam.

“You actually want to get the problem solved. So you’re grateful that there’s someone there to quickly help solve your problem.”

She said people often aren’t thinking they’re going to be scammed for asking for help online, which is why it is easy for the scammers to take advantage of them.

Is this happening in Australia?

Australians should be worried about this scam too, because they’re not just going to be flying with Australian airlines.

A quick search on X will show that there seems to be a few dormant or even restricted accounts that could be trying to imitate Australian airlines.

An ACCC spokesperson confirmed to TND that the National Anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch service has had reports of “similar activity involving impersonation of Australian airlines on X”.

Fortunately, the people who reported the scams realised what they were before they handed over money or personal information.

The spokesperson said scammers try to get people to move the conversation off platforms like X to WhatsApp in order to perpetrate the scam.

“It is a common tactic of scammers to impersonate well-known brands and trusted organisations including government organisations, law enforcement, popular online stores, and other well-known service providers,” the spokesperson said.

“They may even set up accounts on social media pretending to be friends or family – to steal personal information and money. Australians are encouraged to stop and check if they really know who they are communicating with.”

How to prevent being scammed

It’s easy to get flustered in a moment of crisis, like when dealing with airline woes, but Whitty urges people to just take a step back, especially when being asked to provide personal information.

If you’re communicating with an airline, or any business online, always check to make sure it is their verified social media account.

You can check by going to the airline’s website and finding a link to their social media pages and confirm what their social media handle is.

If you’re really confused, then try more traditional ways of getting answers, like calling up a customer service number.

The ACCC spokesperson warned that these impersonation scams can be quite convincing, so people need to be vigilant.

Scammers might use the same logo as an organisation and “spoofing” technology, so it seems they are calling from an actual phone number.