6
Nov
(Update: the scammers posing as American Airlines have been shut down. You can find the REAL American Airlines on Instagram by searching for username AmericanAir.) American has a fairly new presence on the social photo sharing site Instagram, and it seems that scammers are just as quick to embrace new technologies and platforms.
Someone has set up a fake American Airlines Instagram account promising followers a free ticket just for being one of the first 10,000 to follow by Nov. 7. Here’s a look:
You can find the real American Airlines on Instagram as AmericanAir, here’s a look at their info:
Other than attracting followers, I’m not sure what the scammers hope to gain: beyond whatever info is in your profile, no personal information is exchanged when you follow someone.
American isn’t the only airline with a fake Instagram counterpart, Delta and Southwest have fakers too.
According to the Twin Cities Business Journal, the fake Delta account had more than 21,000 subscribers with promises of a free ticket – which is absolutely nuts! It’s tough enough to get a “free” ticket on Delta with miles! Not sure how anyone fell for that one.
Now if I saw a Delta Instagram account that promised a Free Ticket (with a $350 co-pay, that can’t be used on premium class or international travel, excludes May through April travel, and fees must be charged to Delta branded AMEX card) – that I would believe!
Chris said,
I don’t know how Instagram works, but I know that on Facebook a lot of times spammers will try to get a lot of “likes” for a page which they can then sell to someone (or a company) who can then re-brand it as their own page and say that they’ve got XX fans on Facebook.
aadvantagegeek said,
@ Chris – Ah, I see, that makes sense. Very clever (and evil). Thanks for the explanation.
Bitachu said,
pretty sure this also happened to hawaiian air’s instragram account as well
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