Internet ticket scams can ground travel plans

Did you hear about Julio Amores, the Miami International Airport employee who started his own ticket-sales business? According to an AP story, he was one of those guys who wraps security plastic around luggage before a passenger checks his bag. When he discovered he could sell cheap airline tickets on a cash-only basis to destinations in South America, he must have decided there was more money in paper than in plastic. The only problem was the tickets were bogus. When the authorities discovered his scam, he was the only one with a viable travel voucher and his was a one-way ticket to jail.

But Amores isn't the only one who believes scamming travelers is the ticket to success. Airline ticket rip-offs have been flying high on the Internet for some time. Here's what happens:

The thief uses a stolen credit card to buy airline tickets and then posts them on Internet sites such as Craig's List or eBay. A person looking for a cheap flight sees the ad and buys the ticket. Sometimes it works. But not always. Frequently, the passenger arrives at the airport and the ticket agent identifies the ticket as having been purchased by a stolen credit card. He confiscates the ticket and the passenger is forced to purchase a new ticket, which often costs more than double what the stolen itinerary originally cost the unsuspecting traveler.

Some of these scams are more obvious. Connie Carwhile received an airline confirmation in her e-mail account. It appeared to come from a legitimate airline. It required her to open an attachment to receive her e-ticket receipt. But two red lights stopped her from opening it. First, the letter was filled with grammatical errors that would never have been sent from a reputable company. And secondly, she hadn't purchased an airline ticket. If she had opened it, there's a strong possibility her identity would have been stolen or she would have introduced a serious virus into her computer.

There are also Internet sites that claim to sell cheap tickets. Some are reputable. But not all of them. Don Holloway searched the Internet for a cheap flight to Europe and found an incredible deal through a Web site he had never visited. He purchased the ticket with a credit card. After typing in his account number and expiration date, Don received a message that said his card had been declined and he would need to wire the payment to a post-office box. Don canceled his purchase and canceled his credit card.

Several years ago, before all the airlines hired agents from countries like India and Pakistan, Trans World Airlines found telephone agents that basically worked for cigarettes. They hired convicts to sell over-the-phone tickets. Travelers became concerned that these inmates might steal their credit card numbers. It never happened. But the concern was so great, the airline stopped the practice.

Now the Internet has managed to create a thriving fraud business. Anyone purchasing a ticket from an online site needs to do some homework. Find out if the company is viable. Read their material carefully. And if you do purchase a ticket, use a credit card, which provides you with some degree of protection.

The bottom line is, use your head. If the deal doesn't really fly ... neither should you.

Gail Todd, a free-lance writer,worked as a flight attendant for more than 30years. She can be reached via e-mail at gailtodd@aol.com.