So yesterday, I flew to visit family for the holidays. This morning I get a WhatsApp message from a UK mobile number, claiming that they're from the airline I flew on, and that they have my lost luggage. They sent a photo of luggage on a steel table. It's not mine, because I have my luggage.
What the scammers seem to know: my name, phone number, and unless it's a massive conicidence, the fact that I flew on that airline yesterday.
What they got wrong: it's not a picture of my luggage, and they claim that they found my name from a parcel inside it that is labeled to my actual name, with an address on the West Coast (I don't live on the West Coast).
The scam seems to involve me filling out a British customs form (Border Force). I imagine the plan is that they'll pretend to be customs, and intimidate people into paying made-up fines later.
I played along with the scam for a little bit on the WhatsApp thread, and in their ineptitude, they sent me various pre-filled customs forms, probably from other people that they've scammed, before sending me the blank one.
Anyway, here's what I want to know. They have my full name and phone number (which is probably easy enough to find, especially since there were airline data leaks a few years ago), but how do they know I traveled yesterday? Dodgy luggage handlers at the airport? Anyone else experienced something similar?
Submitted December 28, 2021 at 05:29AM by lmea14 https://ift.tt/3JoovBR
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