Holidaymakers told to beware buying Avios points on Facebook after scams
Holidaymakers hoping to use frequent flyer points to reduce the cost of their holiday have been warned to beware of fraudsters claiming to sell them on third-party websites.
In a case that highlights the dangers of buying points through unofficial channels, a young couple were left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after they were defrauded by a scammer who claimed to be selling them British Airways loyalty points.
Nigel Turner*, a small business owner, believed he was buying Avios points from someone on a Facebook group when he was planning a trip to Corfu for the end of this month.
Turner paid £200 for 60,000 Avios points that he thought would contribute towards two business class flights for the 10-day break. Without the points, the flights cost £1,300.
But after the points had been transferred and he booked the tickets, it emerged that they did not belong to the seller. Turner was told by BA that the points had been 'fraudulently obtained'.
He was left with a non-refundable hotel booking and airport transfers worth £700.
'Both of us are self-employed so this has hit us hard, financially and emotionally,' he said. 'It's heartbreaking to tell someone you love that the holiday you both looked forward to for months is gone.'
He added: 'We would have never flown business class, to be honest, without seeing this. It was just a cool thing which we thought we could do and it would cost the same amount as a normal flight.'
Turner paid of the points using a bank transfer, and they were transferred to his Avios account.
But then BA contacted him and said the points had been fraudulently obtained and removed them from him. The airline said it knew Turner had nothing to do with the fraud, and refunded the additional legitimate Avios he used towards the flight.
'Scams like this can still happen even when you think you've protected yourself. I had the points in my account before paying – and I still got scammed,' he said. 'If it's happening in one Facebook group with 75,000 members, you can bet it's happening in others too.'
Up to 60,000 Avios points can be transferred legitimately between people on the airline's website for an admin fee of £50.
BA said in a statement that the sale of the points had violated its terms and conditions as selling or buying 'via outside sources' was forbidden.
It added that the stolen Avios points had been restored to the person who they belonged to. Turner said the person who sold him the fraudulent points had deleted his Facebook account.
New rules requiring banks and other payment companies to reimburse fraud victims who have been tricked into sending money to scammers took effect last October. Turner has now been refunded the £200 he paid.
* Names have been changed
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Chelsea talking to Milan over France keeper Maignan
Chelsea are in talks with AC Milan over signing France goalkeeper Mike Italian club value Maignan at about £25m but the Blues do not want to meet Milan's asking price and are in talks about a lower 29-year-old has been a regular for Milan since joining on a five-year contract from Lille in has also been first choice for France since Hugo Lloris retired from international football in January have told BBC Sport that Maignan would be interested in a move to Stamford have struggled to find a long-term option in goal since buying Kepa Arrizabalaga in 2018 for £71m, which remains the world-record fee for a years later they signed Edouard Mendy, who left for Al-Ahli in 2023, while Kepa has spent the past two seasons on loan at Real Madrid and then the past two years Chelsea have also signed Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic and Filip Jorgensen but the club appear unconvinced by all spent last season on loan at Strasbourg while Sanchez and Jorgensen had spells in the Chelsea first team.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Wagner Group UK proxy instructed to use Cold War drama as a ‘manual'
A proxy for the terrorist Wagner Group was instructed to use a Cold War drama about KGB spies in the United States as a 'manual' for his mission in the UK, a court has heard. Dylan Earl, 20, has admitted orchestrating an arson attack on an east London warehouse, and plotting to burn down Mayfair businesses and kidnap their Russian dissident owner last year. On Thursday, jurors at the Old Bailey saw chat between Earl, of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire, and a Wagner Group contact identified by the handle Privet Bot on Telegram. The day before the arson attack, Privet Bot instructed Earl to watch the television series The Americans, about KGB agents undercover in the US, 'in order to understand work'. Privet Bot went on: 'The idea is like that. You need to organise partisan cells in the country and in Europe and think of a name for your movement. We'll give you support… 'Watch this series. It will be your manual. You'll have a source of funding through organising arsons.' The court has heard how Earl allegedly roped in Jake Reeves, 23, from Croydon, south London, to help recruit people to carry out the arson attack on the warehouse. Earl also revealed his plans to Ashton Evans 20, from Newport, Gwent, on Signal, Snapchat and mobile phone messages, it is alleged. They had initially communicated about drug dealing, with Earl adopting the name of a notorious Russian 'hitman', the court was told. Evans was allegedly aware that Earl had orchestrated the warehouse arson attack. Three days after the fire, which caused £1 million of damage, Evans asked: 'Did you light it up?' the court was told. They went on to discuss the plot to burn down Hide restaurant and Hedonism wine shop in Mayfair, snatch the owner and hand him over to Russia. Earl warned there would be a 'good amount of heat after this' and it would be 'on every news channel and radio in our country'. Evans allegedly replied: 'Yes, I can sort if there is a way we can do so without people getting hurt cause that's when the police will take very very serious – like t***or (terror) level serious.' Stressing the need for security, Earl told him: 'It will be a huge thing and every single spy agency trying to find who did it so careful ok.' Evans agreed that it would 'bring a lot of attention MI5 etc', the court heard. On April 1 2024, Earl asked Evans to delete their chats and asked if he could make connections with the IRA or the Irish Kinahan crime family. Earl suggested he wanted to 'build a link' between the Kinahans and Russia, saying: 'We have direct connection to the Kremlin, we can do suin (something) big.' After his arrest, Evans claimed he did not take the chat seriously, having jokingly told Earl: 'And this is all in mine craft, right?' He also claimed in a police interview that he was just stringing Earl along to get a refund for £300 of fake cocaine he had bought, the court was told. Earl and Reeves have pleaded guilty to aggravated arson of the east London warehouse and an offence under the National Security Act. The court was told that Reeves had revealed details of their plans to another contact, Dmirjus Paulauskas, having described Earl as 'Russian mafia'. On the kidnap plot, Reeves allegedly told Paulauskas that the idea was to 'get him sent back to Russia for imprisonment'. Paulauskas, 23, from Croydon, allegedly responded to Wagner Group activity on UK soil with glee, saying: 'I'm so f****** gassed cos that means the west has already have already u r allowed to call urself Russian now (sic).' The defendant, who was later to claim that he took none of it seriously, allegedly responded to the warehouse attack by saying: 'Holy f*** so Wagner literally has UK gangs doing their work..' Shortly before their arrests, the men pondered why Earl – 'the Russian guy' – had not been on Snapchat for five days. Paulaskas suggested he was busy in his job 'sabotaging UK'. Prosecutor Duncan Penny KC told jurors that by then Earl had been in custody for nine days. He said: 'The position is clear: Reeves told Mr Paulauskas about the plan to kidnap the target, who had sent money to Ukraine and who was to be sent back to Russia, and about the fact that the attack on the east London warehouse.' Mr Penny added that the realisation there was foreign interference by the Wagner group on British soil through the use of 'UK criminals as proxies', seemed to have been a matter of 'quite some pleasure' to Paulauskas. Evans and Paulauskas have each denied two charges of failing to disclose information about terrorist acts, which they deny. Jakeem Rose, 23, from Croydon, Ugnius Asmena, 20, of no fixed address, Nii Mensah, 23, of Thornton Heath, south London, and Paul English, 61, of Roehampton, south-west London, have denied aggravated arson relating to the warehouse fire. The Old Bailey trial continues.
BreakingNews.ie
2 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
JP Magnier handed €50,000 in 'brown' envelopes to estate agent in land sale, court hears
The High Court has heard that billionaire bloodstock magnate John Magnier's son, JP, handed over two "brown" envelopes containing a total of €50,000 in cash to an estate agent involved in a failed €15 million property deal which were delivered to the beneficiaries of the estate as a show of "appreciation". The court also heard that a solicitor involved in the proposed conveyance of Barne Estate, Co Tipperary, the subject of a legal action by John Magnier - who alleges a €15 million deal was reneged upon by the vendors - has told the High Court that an agreement was in place between the parties before an exclusivity document was signed. Advertisement Joseph Fitzpatrick, of Smithwick Solicitors, was giving evidence in the hearing on Thursday and told counsel for the Barne Estate that he secured an exclusivity agreement signed by both sides to run from August 31st to September 22nd after hands were allegedly shaken on the deal. Lawyers acting for Mr Magnier, founder of the world-famous Coolmore Stud, have claimed before the High Court that a US-based construction magnate, Maurice Regan, the preferred buyer, engaged in a "full-frontal assault" on Mr Magnier's claimed deal to buy the 751-acre tract. Mr Magnier's proceedings claim that Barne Estate reneged on the alleged deal, preferring to sell the land at the higher price of €22.25 million to Mr Regan, the founder of the New York building firm JT Magen. Mr Magnier – along with his adult children - wants to enforce the alleged deal. Advertisement The Magnier side says the deal was struck at an August 22, 2023, kitchen meeting at Mr Magnier's Coolmore home. They also claim an exclusivity agreement that was in effect from August 31 to September 30 stipulated that the estate would not permit its representatives to solicit or encourage any expression of interest, inquiry or offer on the property from anyone other than Mr Magnier. Barne Estate has been held for the benefit of Richard Thomson-Moore and others by a Jersey trust. The Magnier side has sued the Barne Estate, Mr Thomson-Moore and three companies of IQEQ (Jersey) Ltd group, seeking to enforce the purported deal, which they say had been "unequivocally" agreed. The Barne defendants say there was never any such agreement, as they needed the consent of the trustees to finalise any agreement, and subsequently they preferred to sell the estate to Mr Regan. Advertisement Mr Regan is not a party to the case. Mr Magnier's son, JP, told Paul Gallagher SC, for the Magnier side, that his father asked him to get €50,000 in cash on September 8, 2023, and to put it into two envelopes to be given to the Thomson-Moores. He said the money was an "appreciation" for letting the Magnier side onto the Barne land, for their loyalty in honouring the deal and because they were allegedly "cash strapped". JP Magnier said he put the money into two envelopes and gave it to the estate agent at Barne Estate for them to be passed on to the Thomson-Moores. Advertisement On September 11, 2023, however, he said the estate agent met with JP Magnier and "pushed" the envelopes in his direction, saying that the Thomson-Moores were concerned that their farm manager may have seen the original transaction. Niall F Buckley SC, for the Barne side, asked what colour the envelopes were and was told by JP Magnier that they were brown. Mr Buckley put it to JP Magnier that the envelopes were to keep the Thomson-Moores "sweet", as John Magnier was concerned they were going to pull out of the deal. JP Magnier said his father never said that to him. "I take it you didn't ask for a receipt?" asked Mr Buckley. JP Magnier replied: "No." Advertisement "Doesn't that say it all," remarked Mr Buckley. "Knowing what you did about my clients' family circumstances and the need for them to provide for their child and given the vast amount of land you have, did it ever occur to you to let this one go?" "It wouldn't be my call," said JP Magnier. Mr Fitzpatrick told Martin Hayden SC, for the Barne Estate, that the exclusivity agreement was not to further any negotiation but to keep the "status quo" of the alleged sale agreement in order to further the preparation and receipt of the contracts. "Exclusivity was not for negotiations going forward but to facilitate the contract," said Mr Fitzpatrick. Ireland Supreme Court decision on compensation over power... Read More Mr Fitzpatrick said Mr Magnier had deposited €15 million in the Smithwicks' client account before any purported contract was signed in order to "show good faith". However, a week before the exclusivity agreement expired, the Thomson-Moores said they were taking tax advice, he said. "We invited them to a meeting and that was refused, then the extension of the exclusivity was refused. It was clear they had no intention of signing with us and were running down the clock," said Mr Fitzpatrick. The case continues in two weeks' time before Mr Justice Max Barrett.
