'I felt like crying': Ontario family loses $17,500 to online flight ticket scam

An Ontario family was planning a religious trip to Saudi Arabia that included 10  people, but when they were checking in for their flights, the family discovered some of their tickets were fake.

“I felt like crying. It’s a big amount and our hard-earned money,” said a Mississauga woman who asked CTV News Toronto to not identify her and only use her first name, Nighat, after she was caught in an online travel scam.

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Last year, when Nighat was purchasing airline tickets for herself and nine other family members to go to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, she saw an offer on Facebook Marketplace for international travel with a 30 per cent discount.

Believing it was a great offer, she contacted the seller who claimed he could get tickets from Air Canada at a reduced rate and she purchased 10 airline tickets for $14,320.

However, when the family got to the airport, five of those tickets were fakes.

“The person actually blocked me right away from the system. The phone wasn’t working and I no longer had communication with that individual,” said Nighat.

At the last minute, they had to purchase an additional five tickets at a cost of $17,500. Air Canada was able to provide a refund for the five fake tickets, but unfortunately the money went back to the individual who sold the tickets, and not Nighat’s family.

“The sad part is Air Canada refunded the money to the original credit card holder who made the payment towards those tickets,” Nighat said.

“Unfortunately, we hear about more and more of these every week, even every day,” said Richard Smart, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO).

TICO is the province’s travel regulator which oversees travel agencies, tour groups and websites. If you deal with a TICO registered company, it has a complaint process, and you may be able to receive compensation if something goes wrong.

Anyone selling fake tickets online could face charges including fines and jail time.

"We've had success, and we are working on some cases as you know, where we are hopeful the scammers will be brought to justice," said Smart.

When buying travel tickets through social media, you should be aware they may offer little or no protections.

Nighat told CTV News she’s been trying for over a year with her bank and other agencies to get her money back, but unfortunately has not had any success.

If you get any travel offers in the form of a text message, email, phone call, or on social media like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, always be wary.

It may be worth paying more purchasing your tickets through a registered travel company or agent, so you know you’re not going to lose your money