Consumer Alert: The sinister new twist in the travel call center scam

We've been flooded with complaints about this online swindle. Now it's getting worse.

Imagine booking a trip with a trusted travel company, only to discover your reservation doesn’t exist. Now imagine being pressured to pay again. And again.

That's not a hypothetical scenario. It’s happening right now in a disturbing escalation of the call center scam epidemic.

Fraudsters are posing as American Airlines, Amtrak, and other major travel brands — using fake websites, spoofed phone numbers, and urgent threats — sometimes either selling customers worthless tickets or tricking them into rebooking trips they already paid for.

Their new weapon? Securing a credit card authorization, sometimes for recurring charges. It can turn a single theft into a financial hemorrhage.

It happened to our readers

The call center scam is alive and well. Consider what happened to Catherine Gallagher after booking an American Airlines flight through what she believed was the airline’s “Platinum Pro” desk.

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