PETALING JAYA – Scammers are always looking for ways to dupe the public. From phone calls pretending to be police officers to phishing websites and now social media.
Spotted on Twitter is a new scam targeting customers of legitimate brands who are facing issues with the services provided.
While it may appear obviously dubious to many, others who do not pay close attention will potentially find themselves falling victim to these scammers.
A slew of accounts have popped up on Twitter using brand names such as Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Batik Air and the now-defunct MyAirline.
These accounts however do not have the verified badge, but it deserves a mention that some legitimate accounts of brands also do not have the verified badge.
With MyAirline having ceased operations recently, affected customers are looking to get their refunds. Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, AirAsia and Batik Air have all announced discounted fares for affected MyAirline passengers.
This is potentially what prompted these scammers to step in, creating fake accounts to dupe unsuspecting passengers.
Checks on Twitter found that the fake AirAsia account, using the handle @airasia352519 was created just this month.
It latched on to Twitter users who tagged the real AirAsia on the issues they were facing.
To illustrate this better, one user replied to a post by the real AirAsia to complain about a refund. The user lamented that no one had taken action on the problem they were facing.
The real AirAsia has yet to respond to this passenger's complaint, however, the fake AirAsia stepped in, asking the complainant to DM them their phone number so they could help to probe the matter.
The passenger, probably not realising this was a fake account, replied saying the phone number had been shared. The fake account replied, thanking the passenger and apologising for the inconvenience, much like how a legitimate customer service would address customers.
It is unsure what the endgame and full modus operandi of this scam is. The fake account is still active on Twitter.
The same goes for the fake accounts of the other airlines.
As for MyAirline, it is unfortunate that their legitimate account goes by @FlyMyAirline as this meant @MyAirline was up for grabs and is now being used by a scammer.
While the fake AirAsia account contained digits in the handle, which makes it easier for people to identify it as a fake account, the fake MyAirline account looks real.
It was created in September and is believed to have just recently changed its name to impersonate MyAirline. It has yet to engage with any MyAirline passengers but there is an old tweet of the account that looked like it was trying to dupe a train passenger in India.
The Batik Air fake account was also created this month and it looks like the scammer is looking at old complaints and responding to them.
One passenger complained of a flight cancellation in June last year and the fake account, which uses the handle @BatikAir_1 replied asking for the passenger to DM their phone number for further assistance.
A quick check on Twitter found that this problem is not unique to Malaysian airline companies as there are many accounts using the same message to dupe customers of other airlines.
Among the airlines they are impersonating include Air Canada, Spirit Airlines, Etihad Airways and Air New Zealand.
The account impersonating Malaysia Airlines which was using @MA_S__1 can no longer be found, possibly due to quick action by the administrators of Malaysia Airlines reporting the account to Twitter.
Before replying to any accounts of big brands on Twitter, make sure to check that you are replying to their official account and not a scammer.
How to check
The first thing is to look at their handles. If it looks dodgy, like @AirAsia352519, then it's definitely fake.
If the handle doesn't look dodgy, look at their profile page and see when the account was created. If it is recent and the brand has been around for a while, then most likely you're looking at a fake account.
An account with a verified badge is also another indicator. While anyone can subscribe to the blue badges, a real account will have more followers compared to a fake one. Also, it is not easy to get a verified blue badge as there are certain conditions to be met first before the subscription is approved.
Next, scroll through their feed and look at their previous posts. Scammers operate dozens of accounts and this means they will not be able to flood each account with posts unique to one particular brand. - The Vibes, October 15, 2023
