A British woman lost approximately £900 after becoming a victim of a social media scam that originated from a complaint about wet seats on a Ryanair flight.
Sharon Morrell, 48, was traveling with her family to Palma, Majorca, on October 24 when she discovered that several seats on their Ryanair flight from Bristol were 'completely soaked' due to rain entering the cabin.
According to Morrell, the cabin crew provided only paper towels to dry the seats. Frustrated by the situation, she took to social media to express her dissatisfaction.
Following her online complaint, Morrell received a phone call from an individual claiming to be from Ryanair's customer service department. The caller offered compensation for the inconvenience.
To receive the supposed compensation, Morrell was instructed to download two applications. It was during this process that she noticed money being debited from her bank account. The scammer, who had convinced her it was a standard procedure for transferring funds, was reportedly sending payments to an account in Kenya.
Morrell realized she was being scammed when she saw the payments leaving her account, prompting her to hang up the phone. She described the scammer as being very convincing.
A spokesperson for Ryanair stated that due to adverse weather conditions (Storm Ciaran) during boarding at Bristol on October 24, a small number of seats near the aircraft door became damp. The crew reportedly assisted affected passengers by wiping down the seats, and the flight operated normally.
Morrell is currently working with her bank to address the fraudulent transactions. The incident has left her feeling hesitant about traveling with Ryanair again and even put her off international travel altogether.