LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Scammers are targeting Louisville-area travelers who were trying to catch flights last week during a major technology outage that affected multiple airlines and businesses across the country.
Earlier this month, businesses and governments around the world experienced hours of disruption when widespread technology outages affected services across a range of industries, causing flights to be canceled and disrupting many hospitals, small businesses and government agencies.
At the center of the massive outage is CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company that provides software to many companies around the world. The company said the problem was caused by a flawed update applied to computers running Microsoft Windows, and that the outage was not caused by a security incident or cyberattack.
Scammers saw opportunity in the wake of the chaos.
“It was awful. I didn't want to get on the plane in the first place,” said Ed Nedel, a LaGrange resident who flew last week. “I've never seen the chaos that I saw there.”
Nedel had been stranded at Dallas Love Field the day after the initial outage, where he had been visiting his son, daughter-in-law and grandson.
“I got to the gate and started eating my lunch, and as soon as my lunch arrived I got an email saying the flight was canceled,” Nedel said. “I figured it would be a while, so I rented a car and went back.”
Ed Nedel dealt with the spam messages after returning to his home in LaGrange, Kentucky.
He spent $623 on a rental car and a motel room to get back to Oldham County, and he described his struggles in the comments section of Delta's Facebook page.
“Within minutes, I started getting messages and instant messages from people claiming to be Delta customer service asking for my name, ticket number and phone number,” Nedel said.
Nedel fell victim to six scams in a two-hour period.
“I couldn't believe it, but I knew how the world is today so I believed it,” Nedel said. “How could someone fall for something like that? But I'm worried about my parents.”
The spam messages included requests for personal messages with reservation details and requests to submit claims through suspicious links.
“The way it was phrased made it clearly a scam,” Nedel said. “Their English was poor.”
Another message asked for his full name, ticket number and email address.
“It's sad, but I can't trust people anymore,” Nedel said.
Cybersecurity expert Greg Shaffer shared some tips on how to protect yourself at home and at work. Shaffer said you should never enter flight or resume information into ChatGPT, be careful of typos in Facebook Messenger messages, and avoid clicking unexpected links.
Nedel is thankful he noticed the warning signs before acting.
“You have to be careful and stay vigilant,” Nedel said.
Nedel doesn't yet know whether his troubles will be worth it to get a refund.
The technical glitch has been resolved.
CrowdStrike founder and CEO George Kurtz apologized to everyone affected.
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