INDIANAPOLIS — Where technology leads scams will follow.
After making a purchase from Frontier Airlines, Donna Mitchell tried to call the company.
"I wanted to talk to someone with a pulse desperately, but I couldn't get anybody. Everything had to go through the website," Mitchell said.
That is because Frontier Airlines does not have a customer service phone line anymore.
Customer service options include messaging on their site and WhatsApp, email, and a formal complaint process.
In addition to sending an email, Mitchell also reached out to the airline via X, formerly known as Twitter.
It is a trick used by many travelers to contact airlines quickly.
That is when a now-suspended account responded to Mitchell's post for help.
"My response to them was contact me on my personal email," Mitchell said "That's what they did. That's how they got my phone number. When someone called me, and the call came up on my phone, 'Frontier Airlines Customer Service.' That's the only reason why I answered it."
The caller spoofed or altered their caller ID to display Frontier Airlines, and got Mitchell to verbally confirm her credit card number.
Shortly after, she got hit with a $299 charge that she says she never made.
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David Slotnick with The Points Guy said what used to be an effective way to get a response from companies can now be problematic.
"There have been a lot more fake accounts pretending to be the airlines," Slotnick said, "Over the last year or so, there's just been a lot of changes to Twitter [X]. The platform and the nature of it is has changed."
Before responding to social media accounts, look at the user's handle. That is the portion the begins with an "@" symbol.
Real accounts are typically simple words.
Impersonators will have something slightly different from a real handle adding numbers, symbols or using misspellings.
Next, head to the account's profile. A low number of followers and a recent join date are red flags.
Airlines know this is an issue, too.
For example, Frontier Airlines pinned a message at the top of their X profile explaining that their account has a gold verification badge and was created back in 2008.
To find an airline's contact info, Slotnick said it is best to go directly to an airline's website.
That is because phones numbers that show up on Google searches are not always accurate.
Slotnick added that airline apps are another good option.
"A lot of the time, they'll have different ways to contact them listed through the app. And for some airlines, that includes a messaging option," Slotnick said.
After WTHR reached out to Mitchell's credit card company, they issued her a credit for the $299.