Scammers Impersonate Top UK Airlines: How to Protect Yourself

Holidaymakers are being warned about a rise in scams where fake social media accounts are used to impersonate airlines.

Airline customers are being targeted by fake social media accounts on X (formerly Twitter). The consumer champion found bogus accounts for every major airline in the UK, including British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Tui, Virgin Atlantic, and Wizz Air.

Fake accounts on X are often used to trick customers into giving away their personal data to a scammer posing as an airline (or other legitimate business). The scammers will often prey on vulnerable and frustrated customers who’ve contacted an airline about a problem.

From flight delays and cancellations to lost baggage, the scammers will reply to the passenger’s complaint, hoping the customer won’t notice that the reply has come from a fake account. The scam pages then reply to the customer before the legitimate airline’s page has a chance to, telling the disgruntled customer to speak to them via DM. The scam accounts do this hoping that the customer will not notice they are being contacted by a fake account.

Which? gave the example of a researcher who contacted the genuine Wizz Air X account, @wizzair, asking if a flight was delayed, and almost immediately received responses from two fake accounts. Scammers will usually ask customers to send them sensitive personal data, or direct them to phishing websites to input financial information like credit card details. They will also sometimes ask the customer for a fee to resolve their issue.

Airlines are urging customers to be wary of fake accounts and not share personal data on social media. An easyJet spokesperson said: “We advise customers to only follow and engage with our sole official channel @easyJet, which is identifiable by the gold verification badge for official businesses, for the latest updates or to seek support and to be vigilant and to not engage with or click on any links from other accounts.”

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “We continue to report fake social media accounts and would like to remind customers to never give their personal details out on these channels. Passengers should contact customer service via our claims or call centres.”