EasyJet customers beware: Scammers are targeting people affected by flight cancellations

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the latest wave of EasyJet flight cancellations to prey on unsuspecting passengers, experts warn.

A worrying new scam has taken Twitter by storm, tricking victims around the world into giving up their personal information online.

The scammer sees fake accounts responding to customer tweets to the official EasyJet account asking them to message or reveal their phone numbers.

Unlike the official EasyJet account (@easyjet), these scam accounts do not have a gold check mark – a sign of a legitimate organization on Twitter.

Here’s what to look out for to make sure you don’t fall victim to one of the scams.

The scammer sees fake accounts responding to customer tweets to the official EasyJet account asking them to message or reveal their phone numbers

Lisa Webb, consumer law expert at Which?, told MailOnline: ‘It is really worrying that scammers are using the recent easyJet cancellations to prey on vulnerable consumers trying to get their money back for canceled flights.

“If you receive a Twitter message purporting to be from easyJet, please verify that it is from the official @easyJet Twitter account.”

The fraudulent scheme comes as EasyJet announced that 1,700 flights would be canceled during the peak summer months due to ‘unprecedented’ air traffic control delays.

About 180,000 passengers have been affected, and 9,000 still have no alternative route despite EasyJet’s efforts to replace their journey.

While some scam accounts have now been closed, which ones? believes that five remain in operation.

To spot them, which ones? recommends checking the number of followers as they generally have a small handful compared to @easyjet’s half a million.

Some may make spelling mistakes or speak in a way that also seems somewhat unnatural.

An example is: ‘Hello, I’m sorry for the challenge we’ve encountered. We would like to take a closer look at the expressed concern. Please share your phone number with us via DM so we can investigate further. ^Bb.’

To report a Twitter account, users need to click on their profile and tap the three little dots above the person/organization name

Another reads, “Sorry for the inconvenience, please follow back and share your reachable phone number for help, thanks for keeping in touch ^JM.”

Real customer service representatives from legitimate companies won’t ask for your phone number on Twitter, according to Which?.

Instead, employees usually ask for flight numbers and booking/reference information to help customers with their travel plans.

Ms Webb continued: ‘If you have any doubts, please contact easyJet directly using the contact details on their official website to verify your compensation claim.

You can report any scam accounts to Twitter. If you or a loved one becomes a victim of a scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud or Police Scotland.”

To report a Twitter account, click on an untrustworthy profile and tap the three little dots above its name.

Here accounts can be reported, blocked or muted.

This can be useful if a scammer is constantly sending messages about fake EasyJet advisories.

The company itself also reports these fake accounts to Twitter, so that ‘necessary action’ can then be taken.

EasyJet told MailOnline: ‘We continuously monitor and are aware of these accounts claiming to be an official easyJet account.

“We will continue to report fake accounts to Twitter so they can take appropriate action and we advise customers to only follow and use our one and only official Twitter channel @easyJet, identified by the gold official company verification badge, for the latest updates or to seek support and be vigilant and not engage or click on links from another account.”