Scammers Using Qantas to Dupe ‘Prize-Winners’

Somebody’s trying to put one over on Qantas Airlines customers.

Scammers posing as representatives of the Australian airline are calling passengers who recently took a flight on Qantas and informing them they’ve been chosen to receive either a "travel prize," "credit points" or "frequent flier miles" toward a future trip, usually in the amount of $999.

It’s a hoax.

Oh it sounds real, all right, especially to those who actually did take a recent trip on Qantas.

But it’s not. The airline even went the extra step to issue a statement regarding the situation.

“We are aware that some customers are receiving automated phone calls purporting to be from Qantas. These calls are not from us, and can easily be identified as unauthentic,” the airline said. “Qantas consultants will always call customers directly to discuss their bookings and do not use an automated phone system when contacting customers proactively. Recipients are advised not to provide personal details or respond to the automated prompts.”

The scam begins with an automated message telling the recipient that as a "thank you" for flying or booking with Qantas they are eligible for a prize. Recipients are directed to push 1, at which point a live person comes on the line to explain more details – and to eventually ask for credit card information to hold the prize.

Qantas noted that scammers use a range of mechanisms, including “harvesting” programs that scour numerous sources on the Internet, to look for customer information. It is also often the case that the recipients of the scam are not customers of the company purporting to make the phone call – which is why individuals who are not necessarily Qantas customers might have also received a phone call.