Travel
The Online Scam That Hits Travelers at Their Most Distracted
A frantic attempt to rebook a missed flight turned into a costly crash course in business-impostor scams — now supercharged by AI and slipping through Google’s ad filters.
The author fell victim to an online scam on her way to the airport in Newark.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/BloombergWhen an actual human being answered an airline customer-service hotline after a single ring, I probably should have known I was being scammed.
At the time, I wasn’t exactly thinking critically. It was three days before Thanksgiving, and my family was about to miss our flight to Berlin, stuck in traffic en route to the airport in Newark, New Jersey. Blame a combination of poor planning, construction on I-95 and five consecutive canceled Ubers.