Airline Ticket Scam Dings Westlake Man

Westlake Police report that a resident was the victim of a legitmate-looking airline ticket scam last week.

The man had booked a flight with Spirit Airlines.  When he used what he thought was a legitimate application (SPIRITCHECKIN) on his phone to check on his flight it appeared that his booking had been cancelled. 

He called the phone number provided by the application and spoke with an individual who sounded like they were at a large call center.  The “agent” said the airline made a mistake but that only more expensive seats were now available on that flight.  The suspect talked the victim into buying Google Gift Cards to pay the difference. 

Once one of the serial numbers of a gift card were given to the fake agent, the scammer tried to talk the victim into buying more gift cards due to technical issues.  All along the scammer promised to refund the extra money to the victim.  At that point the victim realized something was wrong and ended the call.  ***WPD reminds people not to pay for unexpected debts, warrants, government bills etc with gift cards.  These requests/demands/threats are always scams.  You will not get your money back.