In 2025 Scammers Have Stolen $835M from Americans Using Fake Customer Service Numbers

They call it 'the business-impersonator scam'. And it's fooled 396,227 Americans in just the first nine months of 2025 — 18% more than the 335,785 in the same nine months of 2024. That's according to a Bloomberg reporter (who also fell for it in late November), citing the official statistics from America's Federal Trade Commission:

Some pose as airline staff on social media and respond to consumer complaints. Others use texts or e-mails claiming to be an airline reporting a delayed or cancelled flight to phish for travellers' data. But the objective is always the same: to hit a stressed out, overwhelmed traveller at their most vulnerable.
In my case, the scammer exploited weaknesses in Google's automated ad-screening system, so that fraudulent sponsored results rose to the top [They'd typed 'United airlines agent on demand' into Google, and the top search result on their phone said United.com, had a 1-888 number next to it and said it had had 1M+ visits in past month. 'It looked legit. I tapped the number...' ]

After I reported the fake 'United Airlines' ad to Google, via an online form for consumers, it was taken down. But a few days later, I entered the same search terms and the identical ad featuring the same 1-888 number was back at the top of my results. I reported it again, and it was quickly removed again... A [Google] spokesperson there said the company is constantly evolving its tactics 'to stay ahead of bad actors.' Of the 5.1 billion ads blocked by the company last year, she said, 415 million were taken down for 'scam-related violations.' Google updated its ads misrepresentation policy in 2024 to include 'impersonating or falsely implying affiliation with a public figure, brand or organization to entice users to provide money or information.' Still, many impostor ads slip through the cracks.


'Reported losses from business-impostor scams in the United States rose 30 per cent, to US$835 million, in the first three quarters of 2025,' the article points out (citing more figures from the America's Federal Trade Commision). An updated version of the article also includes a response from United Airlines. 'We encourage customers to only use customer-service contact information that is listed on our website and app.'

And what happened to the scammed reporter? 'I called American Express and contested the charge before cancelling my credit card. I then contacted Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, to put a fraud alert on my file. Next, I filed a complaint with the FTC and reported the fake ad to Google.

'American Express wound up resolving the dispute in my favour, but the memories of this chaotic Thanksgiving will stay with us forever. '

Read more of this story at Slashdot.