This is a cautionary tale for anyone scrambling to fix a flight cancellation: one traveler lost over $17,000 while speaking to what he believed was United’s customer service. And he even dialed the correct number! This is a mysterious story, though we now have an update on how it happened that is at least plausible.

Traveler Calls United Airlines, Ends Up Scammed Out of $17K+ Despite Dialing Official Number

After a canceled United flight to Europe, Denver resident Dan Smoker called the official customer service line (1-800-United1). What followed was a three-hour phone call, a charge of $17,328 to his credit card, and now a long fight for answers.

First, Smoker reached a female agent concerning a flight cancellation. She put him on hold and then a male “agent” returned to the call.

The scam involved a person who identified himself as “David,” rebooking the flight and charging Smoker’s card under the promise of a refund. The confirmation email wasn’t from United, and the charge showed up as “AIRLINEFARE” on his statement. He later received this email:

After 45 days, Smoker called back the number above. “David” answered again, promised to look into this refund, but then blocked him.

Smoker has disputed the charge with his bank and wants United to absorb the loss. United Airlines confirmed the call, said it’s investigating, and stated: “We’re committed to finding a fair resolution for him.” Oddly, United says their call records show he was only on the line for 12 minutes, while his own phone shows he was on for over three hours.

Inside Job? United Airlines Says Agent Made Honest Mistake

Like many, when I first heard about this story, I simply assumed the guy googled United and got scammed by a fake number that pays Google for priority search results. I’ve written about those stories before. But as I mentioned above, he called United’s real number. While on the phone with the first agent, it appears he was transferred to “David” where they spent the next three hours on the phone.

> Read More: Google’s Shameful Promotion Of Scam Travel Agents

United now claims that in trying to facilite the rebooking, the agent googled the phone number of the (unidenfied) other airline and then transferred Smoker…so she apparently got hoodwinked too.

United is working with Smoker’s credit card company to chargeback the $17,328.00.

Well, I still may be skeptical, but at least that is plausible. Many United reservation agents work from home and I suppose googling a number could be easier than trying to find it in United’s internal system. Still, I know United trains their agents on scams like this…it’s a very disappointing error.

That said, I remain surprised by this story…I mean, watch the video above, but how gullible is this guy? Like, why would you possibly accept a $17,328 charge on your card, even with the promise of a refund? And when you say the charge came from “AIRLINEFARE” (not United), wouldn’t that prompt you to dispute the charge as fraudulent immediately?

Just for kicks, I called the number before publishing this story.

“David” answered my call…the scam continues.

Go ahead and call David…you can reach him at 301.861.3262.

CONCLUSION

A man was scammed out of over $17K despite calling United’s official number. If something about the interaction feels off, hang up, check the domain and email closely, and insist on official confirmation before you pay. I am confident that United will make this right if the credit card company does not claw back the money, but I’m a little disappointed that Smoker, who seems like a reasonable guy, did not recognize what was happening while it was happening. Same with the “real” United agent: she should have known better.