Last month, I wrote about how a Kentucky family is out $15,000 after foolishly posting their Carnival Cruise itinerary on social media. Unfortunately, as you will learn from this new story, scammers are not just preying on social media users in the hopes that someone posts their booking number.
NBC Los Angeles just aired an interview with a California woman named Brittany Paine, who fell for a scam that ended up costing her over $1,200 and resulted in her losing her cabin on a Mother’s Day weekend Carnival cruise with her kids.
Per NBC News: “Paine booked a Carnival cruise to Ensenada, Mexico, one year ago. A few days before the trip, she called Carnival about a cabin upgrade. That’s when a representative told her about an unpaid fee. ‘We noticed here that you have an outstanding balance on your upcoming cruise for $294, and you will not be able to board if that’s not taken care of.’
Unfortunately, Paine paid the “deck fee” but after hanging up she called Carnival right back because she felt something wasn’t right. She was right, “this time using a different phone number. And she got a different story.” The representative said, “‘No, ma’am, that was a scam. We wouldn’t have charged you a deck fee. Go ahead, and dispute that with your bank’.” Watch the NBC story below:
It turns out that scammers are creating fake company profiles just like they do for airlines, in the hopes that you will find their number and call them instead of the correct phone number. Last year, I wrote about a traveler who exposed scammers who had infiltrated Google by publishing fake airline phone numbers. Shmuli Evers, a father of three who was flying from New York’s JFK airport, wrote: “My @delta flight got canceled from JFK. The customer service line was huge, so I google a Delta JFK phone number. The number was 1888-571-XXXX.” Editor’s note: I’m X-ing out the last four digits just in case someone reading this makes the mistake of calling it. The scammers tried to sell him a new ticket but he didn’t fall for it.
Unfortunately, Brittany Paine did fall for it but she didn’t reveal how she found Carnival’s number the first time. I suspect she used Google. Scammers also prey on X users, where travelers who are in dire straits for whatever reason (canceled flight, late to the airport) try to get quick help by using social media. It can work if you get the right company but don’t ever tweet your booking/confirmation number or other details to a ‘representative’ from a company other than the company’s official handle and only do it in a private/direct message.
Sadly, Elon Musk has made this almost impossible on X, which was travelers’ go-to place to get quick answers from airlines because now, anyone can buy a checkmark, so it looks like they’re official when really they’re not. So you have to be extra careful.
Whenever you want to contact a cruise line, airline, hotel, or car rental company, I recommend that before your trip, you put their official phone number in your phone. That way, you don’t have to scramble looking for their number or worse, get duped by a scammer who has created fake numbers or profiles.
Also, if a company calls you, don’t give any information over the phone unless you call them back to make sure it’s their number as scammers can mask phone numbers so the caller ID can read whatever they want, like Carnival Cruise Lines.
The worst part for Paine is that she later got an email that said: ‘Your cruise has been canceled.’ “Paine said she called Carnival and learned that someone had logged into her account and canceled her cruise.” She doesn’t remember but she must have shared her booking number with the scammer.
Normally, cruise lines don’t refund but because Paine reached out to NBC’s I-Team and they got involved, Carnival refunded her $900 and her bank allowed her to dispute the charge. Never pay with anything other than a credit card (not a bank card, a gift card or Bitcoin).
Paine has rebooked a cruise for later this summer and she added that “nobody is safe from these scams. And they get better and better.”
KEEP READING:
–Is Your Hotel Scamming You?
–Don’t Fall For It: Scammers Are Pretending to be Customs and Border Protection Agents
–Cybersecurity and Fraud Expert Shares Tips on How Not to Get Scammed When Traveling
–How To Avoid Vacation Rental Scams
–Don’t Fall For These QR Code Scams
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