Scammers targeting travelers of canceled and delayed flights

Flights delays and cancellations continue to cause problems for travelers. Over the last few weeks, thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed as airlines continue to deal with staffing shortages due to COVID-19 and winter weather.

Now scammers are trying to cash in on the panic of travelers trying to re-schedule their plans. One way scammers are striking is through mass texts and spam calls.

Clayton LiaBraaten with Truecaller says, "They don't need to know whether you are on a flight or not, because for them it's a numbers game. If they can launch millions and millions of calls or texts, then they just have to catch those few who maybe were recently on a canceled flight and they can claim to accelerate their refund."

LiaBraaten of Truecaller, which is a caller ID and spam blocking app, says they continue to intercept these scam calls and texts.

The company's latest study shows almost 60 million Americans lost money to phone scams in 2021, the average reported loss of $500.

The study finds scammers are utilizing the pandemic, as 59% of Americans have received a scam call or text related to COVID-19 in 2021.

"It's a cat and mouse game, and we're seeing the criminals get increasingly clever right now--particularly recently. The criminals love a crisis because they will jump on that and they really have become adept at social engineering to take advantage of people," LiaBratten adds.

To protect your money and identity, never respond to unsolicited calls, texts or emails. Instead, reach out to the company yourself to make sure they're actually trying to contact you.