British Airways passengers who have social media accounts 'warned'
Vile scammers have targeted stranded UK passengers after British Airways cancelled more than 200 flights from Heathrow and Gatwick. Bogus accounts exist for every major UK airline on X, formerly known as Twitter, and are regularly used to trick customers into giving away their personal data, according to consumer association Which?.
One passenger, Ornella, wrote on social media: “British Airways, thanks for destroying our day – cancel flight at the last moment and let the people spend three hours on the phone trying to get an answer is not normal when you are at a wedding.”
British Airways responded, saying: "Send us your booking reference via DM [direct message] along with as much information as possible so we can take a closer look." Someone else responded to the post, calling themselves "John Lewis British Airways Representative" and claiming to be from the "British Airways Support Team."
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They wrote: "Hello, it’s unfortunate for the challenge encountered. We would like to closely look at the concern raised. Please follow back and share with us via DM your full name, email address, phone number, and reservation number to allow us further."
More than 30 short haul departures and arrivals are grounded, including two round-trips to and from Vienna, in a blow to UK passengers wanting to fly abroad. Other flights to holiday destinations such as Malaga, Nice and Rome are among the cancellations.
At London City, BA has cancelled flights to Malaga, Nice and Rotterdam. And there were problems earlier this week, too. On Friday and Saturday, BA axed more than 160 flights to and from Heathrow, blaming poor weather and air-traffic control restrictions at its main base.
Gatwick cancellations included Marrakech and Turin, as well as longhaul services to Tampa and Las Vegas. A Gatwick-Tenerife flight on British Airways is delayed by 10 hours.