Woman Misses Husband’s Funeral Due to Fake Airline Ticket Scam

A widow from Florida ended up missing her husband’s funeral after she fell victim of an airline ticket scam.

Joanne Stainer, who is 79 years old, said she was supposed to travel to Appleton, Wisconsin, from Orland Sandford International Airport, on June 1 so she could mourn her husband Joe, who had been her partner for the past 59 years.

Unfortunately, she suffered a medical emergency and was unable to board the flight. At the last minute, she was forced to book another flight.

Speaking to local media outlet WFTV, Stainer said she purchased the second flight ticket on the night before the funeral by placing a call to 411 so she could connect with Allegiant Air.

Someone ended up contacting her and claimed that they worked for the airline. They told her, “I can take care of that for you.”

The person ended up being a scammer. They told her that the flight to Wisconsin to Florida cost $988, which they said was an inflated price because she was booking at the last minute.

After she “purchased” the ticket, Stainer said she was given a confirmation code along with a boarding pass number, which made her feel as though the purchase was legitimate.

She didn’t notice that anything was wrong, though, until she got to the airport and wasn’t able to check in for her flight or pass through security. Airline officials who were stationed at the gate blocked her from even boarding the plane.

As she recalled:

“I said, ‘Why? Why can’t I go on the flight? I’ve got a ticket.’ I thought if you have a ticket, you’re good as gold.”

An agent with Allegiant told her that the ticket was fake. Real tickets for that same flight were listed on the company’s website for only $200.

Stainer recalled what the agent told her:

“He said, ‘We’ve had a lot of scammers. This is not the first time that this has happened to us.’”

Naturally, she was very distraught just thinking about the fact that she might miss her husband’s funeral.

As she told WFTV:

“I was so intent on I’m going to be there to watch him be put in the ground. I owe him that.”

Allegiant issued a statement to the local media outlet, saying that the “confirmation number was legitimate, which is why she was able to check in her luggage.”

They continued:

“The ticket was purchased through a third-party that has previously been flagged for fraudulent activity. Within a few hours of booking, our system flagged the third-party purchaser.

“Ms. Stainer purchased her ticket through the third-party on the day of travel. Had the flight been purchased earlier, she would have been notified before arriving at the airport, and a customer care representative would have been happy to provide her with suggestions on how to proceed.”

Allegiant further suggested that all customers book airline tickets straight from their website so that there’s no chance of being scammed.