A California couple became stranded in Maui after a scammer impersonating a Southwest Airlines representative cancelled their flights and utilised the credits to book a different trip. The family suffered a financial loss of $3,400 (Rs 282,620) as a result of this fraud.
Megan and Kevin Morgan, who had travelled to the island to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary along with their 8-month-old baby, faced a difficult situation after the wildfires started raging on the island. They opted to cancel their planned celebratory dinner and depart for the Sacramento area just before the restaurant they had reservations at was completely destroyed by the horrific fire.
The fire was expanding massively, engulfing trees and torching cars. Then the couple decides to check their options for an early exit from the island.
"We're kind of like, 'Let's just make the call.' With the baby, it's too much to be over there," Megan told CBS News.
After searching online for the Southwest Airlines contact number, they dialled the number they found. But unfortunately, the number they got was not of the airline but of a con artist.
The scammer managed to acquire their confirmation numbers on the call and also requested their credit card details, which they refused to provide. However, they did disclose the specifics of their tickets. Unfortunately, the information they shared was enough to fall victim to the financial scam.
"And then [the person who answered the phone] says, it's going to be like $200 or something to change," Megan said.
"And I'm like, 'No, no, no, there shouldn't be change fees. This is Southwest.' And he says, on the phone, 'I've told you four times now, this is how much it costs if you want to change it.'"
Megan said she didn't give a credit card number and hung up immediately.
Using the family's names and confirmation numbers, the con artist proceeded to cancel their return flights. Subsequently, the scammer exploited the flight credit to arrange a flight for someone on the East Coast.
"I've never heard of this scam," Ms Morgan told the news outlet.
The couple explained that they had no choice but to extend their stay on the island by an additional two days and incur a cost of $3,400 for a Hawaiian Airlines flight back home.
Meanwhile, the Maui wildfires in Hawaii have killed at least 110, making it the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, with hundreds of people unaccounted for nearly a week after the disaster.
