Scammers target victims of easyJet cancellations

Exclusive: An imposter social media account, @_easyJets, claims to be “the onlly [sic] official twitter account”.

Real thing: easyJet passengers are urged only to deal with the official Twitter site (Getty Images)

Scammers are targeting passengers hit by disruption after easyJet cancelled hundreds of flights over the past 10 days,

Fake “lookalike accounts” have been contacting customers who tweeted the airline with a complaint.

If the passenger responds, the criminals persuade them to send money – often to offshore accounts – on spurious grounds, or ask for bank information.

One passenger, Joakim Reiter, tweeted @easyJet to complain about “disaster customer service”. He wrote: “Both flights were cancelled, first leaving London, then on return. No help given when called airline.

“Extra costs running up to £300, no reimbursement. Gave up, booked AirFrance (+£500).”

A tweet back from the imposter account @_easyJets read: “Apologies For the delayed Response Kindly share your Reachable mobile number for further Assistance^OG.” @_easyJets, claims to be “the onlly [sic] official twitter account”.

A Twitter account calling itself @easyJet_t, with an identical logo to easyJet, was closed down after The Independent reported it. The second account has also been reported.

An easyJet spokeperson said: “We are aware of a fake Twitter account purporting to be an official easyJet account.

“We have reported the account to Twitter so they can take any necessary action.

“We advise customers to only follow and engage with our sole official Twitter channel @easyJet – which is identifiable by the gold verification badge for official businesses – for the latest updates or to seek support.

“We also advise customers to be vigilant and not engage with or click on any links from other accounts.”

The practice of imposters hijacking angry passengers began last summer with British Airways during spells of widespread disruption.

BA passengers who had lost luggage were invited to send the equivalent of £150 to an account in Kenya in order to retrieve their baggage.

Twitter warns prospective scammers: “You may not use Twitter’s services to deceive others into sending you money or personal financial information via scam tactics, phishing, or otherwise fraudulent or deceptive methods.”