Woman trying to attend family funeral loses hundreds in fake ticket scam for TPA flight

TAMPA, Fla. - A woman flying out of Tampa International Airport to attend a family funeral was scammed out of hundreds of dollars with fake tickets. 

Irene Ameres was trying to attend her uncle's funeral when she obtained three airline tickets from an incorrect number provided in TPA's automated assistance phoneline. She was scammed out of $623.

She told FOX 13 her Uncle Mike passed away earlier this month. 

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"My uncle passed away on July 9th," she said, "He had a heart attack in the water and ended up drowning, and no one was there to help him."

His funeral was scheduled for Thursday, July 25, in Cleveland, Ohio. The only airline that offered a flight out of TPA that morning that would return the same evening was Frontier. 

Her cousin first found tickets on Expedia. 

"She found some tickets that were super cheap. They were like $87 for round trip," she said. 

Ameres went directly to Frontier's website and found a different price. 

"I found them for like $200, each of us. There was a little confusion there. So, I called up Tampa International Airport, and I was prompted to their system to be able to talk to what I thought was someone who worked for Frontier." 

The automated helpline prompt that was supposed to give her the customer service number of Frontier told her to call 1-800-432-1359. Ameres said the man on the other end of the line sounded legitimate.

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"He automatically knew. He knew the flight number, he knew the time, where we were going to be flying out, flying in. So I was like, ‘fantastic. Let’s go ahead and book this," she said, "I got an itinerary from Frontier stating that we had tickets and we were good to go." But things panned out differently once she arrived at TPA Thursday morning. She said, "We come to the airport and find out that our tickets are scam tickets. So from there, I was in a panic."

Ameres and her family members asked for assistance to book tickets right then and there. 

"I begged them four times for us to get on that plane. She denied us all four times." she said, adding that she was told to book online. "She didn’t even offer to help us. All she said was that plane is gone."

Ameres went home to Bradenton and missed the funeral. 

"My cousin, Vilandi, his mom is the sister of Mike and she lives in Greece and she couldn’t make it to the funeral so she asked her son if he could kiss the casket for her," she said, "They had the funeral without us, and we lost those moments and it can’t be taken back.",

FOX 13 called the alleged Frontier customer service number. The person at the other end of the line claimed they were a travel agent from "Flight Reservations". 

A Frontier Airlines spokesperson provided the following statement to FOX 13:

"The phone number in question does not belong to Frontier Airlines. Our correct Customer Service number is 801.401.9000. Customers are encouraged to make reservations through our website or mobile app. Customer Service can also be reached via online chat or through our social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.

If a consumer believes they have been a victim of fraud, they are encouraged to attempt to reverse the charge through their credit card company and report the matter.

We are extremely sorry to hear about these travelers’ circumstances and appreciate the matter being brought to our attention."

Meanwhile, a TPA spokesperson said the following: 

"Upon learning of this customer’s unfortunate circumstance, Tampa International Airport immediately removed the airline’s customer service number, which appears to have been hacked. We encourage anyone who believes they’ve been fraudulently charged to immediately take steps to protect their information, report the scam to the appropriate authorities, and work directly with their airline."

Ameres was able to dispute the charges through her credit card company but said nothing would make up for missing her uncle's funeral.