Lately, there seems to be an increase in fake social media accounts posing as airline representatives. This is another method that scammers use to try and take advantage of unsuspecting people. Let’s talk about some of the telltale signs so you’re in the know.

Why pretend like that?

Similar to scam phone calls and their digital counterparts, phishing emails and social media scam bots aim to trick anyone into revealing private information or installing malware (sometimes both). The end goal is to use that information or software as leverage to make money – by directly exploiting victims, usurping or stealing their identities, selling their information, etc.

For this very purpose, social media scammers have started creating tons of bots posing as airline representatives.

How to recognize a fake representative

If you’ve been on a social media platform long enough, you’ve probably developed an innate sense for spam bots – a sort of “smell test.” But even the most diligent among us can make a mistake when we’re stressed (like when we’re having a difficult experience on an airplane), and all it takes is one mistake.

The vast majority of airlines do not provide separate official corporate accounts to individual employees for customer service reasons. If the airline in question wants to contact you, it is almost certainly the primary airline. Or possibly an official alternate account with “Help” in the name.

Official company accounts on many social media platforms should have some sort of verification (e.g. a yellow and gold check mark or something similar). If the account responding to your complaint is not verified, it is a bot.

Pay attention to what the account is asking for. It’s not uncommon for a representative to ask for more details, but they should ask you to provide them via direct message (and not publicly, for everyone to see). Strange requests like a WhatsApp number are also 100 percent not legitimate.

Possible fakes are usually automatically flagged as spam. However, the platform may not detect all of them and it is not always easy to spot such flags when receiving a direct response.

Ignore the name of the account and look at the actual username. Usernames like “delta_will20453” are definitely fake. Sometimes the account photo can also be a clue.

Check the account details page and see when the account was first created. Fraud accounts are often extremely “young” because fraudsters have to constantly create new accounts as other attempts are reported and removed.

Now more than ever, it’s important to be skeptical when someone asks for your information, even if everything seems fine at first glance. If something doesn’t feel right, take a moment to step back and think about the situation and the sender. And if you’re still not sure, use the company’s official social media account or website to find the right contact information and contact customer service that way.