Scam warning as fraudsters target stranded passengers caught up in air traffic control chaos

Exclusive: ‘Abhorrent’ scammers ‘taking advantage of vulnerable people already under high stress’

Tourists wait at the airport of Palma for their return flight to Italy d (EPA)

Holidaymakers left stranded overseas in the wake of the UK air traffic control meltdown have been targeted by scammers posing as EasyJet on social media.

Thousands of customers found themselves stuck in foreign countries after some 1,500 flights were cancelled on the August bank holiday, with airlines now struggling to deal with the flood of customers contacting them for help with sourcing and paying for accomodation and replacement flights.

Fake “lookalike” accounts on social media are now contacting customers who have publicly approached EasyJet for help on Twitter/X, in a bid to trick them into providing phone numbers as part of a phishing scam.

Multiple fake accounts have replied to EasyJet customers’ posts, with The Independent counting more than 60 such public posts from one account alone since it first began to send them two days ago.

One couple whom fraudsters attempted to trick into sending them receipts of recent purchases on flights and accommodation alleged to The Independent that the “scammers clearly saw an opportunity with EasyJet not providing any real support to its customers”.

“It is abhorrent people are taking advantage of vulnerable people already under high stress,” said Iain Hawthorn and Lucy Chang, who is six months pregnant. The couple found themselves stranded in Rhodes on Monday with all EasyJet flights to Gatwick sold out until the following Thursday.

They have since booked flights with a different airline set to depart this Thursday, having spent “well over £1,500” on new flights and last-minute accommodation – and say they are still seeking confirmation that they will be reimbursed.

After being contacted by three separate fake accounts under a tweet by Mr Hawthron complaining to the airline, Ms Chang was then called by a Tanzanian phone number posing as a customer service rep, who asked the couple to send their receipts to them via WhatsApp, which they declined to do.

Lucy Chang and Iain Hawthorn pictured ‘during happier times’ on a visit to Symi, near Rhodes (Lucy Chang)

“With all the chaos and lack of direct support from EasyJet, it is understandable how people can fall victim to a scammer in this way as people are looking for help and guidance, which so far has been dramatically lacking in EasyJet’s response,” the couple said.

They added: “It is surprising that EasyJet has not sent any comms out to customers on this to advise only to only respond to the verified genuine handles they operate and relevant phone numbers. This is yet another failure of easyJet to protect its passengers.”

Various Easyjet customers wrote to the airline on social media to warn them of the scam.

One person told the airline that a lookalike account had “just tried to scam me out of £330 using your details”, adding: “You need to protect your customers from scams like this.”

Another wrote: “Just had a call which looks like a scam on WhatsApp ... So now you’re leaving the stranded open to fraud and even more money being taken from them as well as the costs incurred by your lack of correspondence and help.”

The airline said in a statement: “We continuously monitor for and are aware of these account purporting to be an official easyJet account.

“We continue to report fake accounts to X (formerly known as Twitter) so they can take any necessary action and we advise customers to only follow and engage with our sole official channel @easyJet, which is identifiable by the gold verification badge for official businesses, for the latest updates or to seek support and to be vigilant and to not engage with or click on any links from other accounts.”

The practice of imposters hijacking angry passengers began during spells of widespread disruption last summer, when The Independent revealed that British Airways passengers who had lost luggage were invited to send the equivalent of £150 to an account in Kenya in order to retrieve it.