How to Avoid Being Scammed out of Your Miles

Even if you think you are vigilant, you too can be scammed.   Here’s a little cautionary tale of how my wife and I were scammed out of thousands of dollars’ worth of miles.   Don’t fall victim to miles scams. Let me share with you how to avoid being scammed out of your miles.

The sordid details

It all started out simply enough with an email with a party invite.   Before clicking on anything, I checked the sender’s email address in the heading, and it was, in fact, the email address of the person sending me the invite.   Since the email seemed legit to me, I clicked on the invite, and it asked me to log in, as I’ve done before for online invites.  However, this time, it took me to a blank page.   I didn’t think anything of it.

The next day, I was checking my American AAdvantage and United Mileage Plus balances, as one does, and saw the balances were lower than they should have been.

I dove into the details.  33,333 miles had been redeemed from my United Mileage Plus account for Apple gift cards.  142,840 miles had been redeemed from my American AAdvantage account for Sephora gift cards.   I then checked my wife’s accounts and found that 165,000 had been redeemed from her American AAdvantage account for Sephora gift cards.

I immediately called United and within minutes, the miles were restored to my account.  They told me to change my account password, which I had already done prior to calling.   They also told me to change my email password and contact my email provider.

This is where things got interesting.   My email provider asked if we could do a screen share so they could see into the account.   They then found filters set up in my email that sent all incoming emails to the Trash folder, thereby preventing me from seeing them. 

In my trash folder were the emails showing the gift card redemptions and the gift cards themselves that the scammers purchased.

I deleted the filters so I could once again see my incoming emails.  Luckily, the filters were only in place for a few hours, as I caught this relatively quickly.

United immediately restored all the points to my account. 

American was a totally different story.   American changed both my wife’s and my AAdvantage numbers.   I could immediately see our remaining mileage balances, but nothing more.  My lifetime gold status was gone as well.  I was told that it would take a few weeks since my account was linked to an AAdvantage Business Account. Sentimentally, I was sad to have lost my AAdvantage number I had since the 80s..but, there are worse things in life.

They told me a review would take place and that a decision would be made on whether we would get our points back.  What???  They said someone would call me.  A week went by, and nobody called.  I called back in and was asked whether I had submitted the police report.  Nobody had ever told me to get one.  My wife and I went to the police station, and I obtained police reports.   I emailed executive customer service to assist, as I couldn’t reach anyone after that.   I would get messages saying there were 3-hour wait times, and when I requested a callback, they never came.

Executive customer service called a few days later and basically said they handle post-flight issues, and not this type of issue.  

A week later, I did hear from someone, and I sent the police reports.  I was told the police reports didn’t specifically outline the value of the miles, but AA informed me they were worth 1 cent each.   I then obtained revised police reports.

After no follow-up, another week and a half later, I emailed back the person I spoke with, and then suddenly my lifetime Gold status reappeared, as did the stolen miles in both accounts.

I had asked both United and American to disallow gift card redemptions from our accounts (because nobody should ever do this, given the poor value of your miles) and was told there was no way to do so.    Eventually, American told me they shut off the ability for everyone to redeem miles for gift cards due to recent rampant fraud.  I guess they finally agreed with me….

All’s well that ends well

When all was said and done, we were made whole and didn’t lose any points. However, it was a headache we didn’t need. Make sure to protect yourself so you don’t fall victim to miles scams.

Steps you should take to protect yourself

Here is the moral of the story (i.e., do these things to protect your miles so you don’t get scammed):

1. Make sure each person’s frequent flier account is linked to a different email address.
2. Review your account balances regularly.
3. Call the airline immediately if you notice fraud.
4. File a police report.
5. Follow up regularly if the airline does not respond.
6. Regularly check your email filters to ensure only the legitimate ones you set up remain.
7. Change your account passwords periodically.

Ok, so now that we’ve protected your hard-earned miles, let’s use them!

Contact me to help you use those miles efficiently for those aspirational trips you’ve been dying to take (e.g., Emirates First Class to Europe).    Let’s get you there this summer!

Miles Man helps travelers:

• maximize credit card benefits,
• strategically earn miles and points,
• book award and non-award travel,
• identify the best cards for their goals,
• avoid leaving valuable credits unused

In addition to award travel services, Miles Man also operates as a certified IATAN travel agency, helping clients book paid travel as well.

Whether you need help choosing the right credit cards, understanding premium card benefits, or booking trips using points and miles, reach out to Miles Man for personalized assistance and a free 15-minute consultation.