Laois residents are being warned to be vigilant of reports a new scam related to the ongoing issues within Are Lingus, with one Midlands family having already lost €2,000.
Thousands of holidaymakers were impacted when news broke of the planned industrial action by Aer Lingus pilots.
The Irish Airline Pilots Association (Ialpa) are seeking a pay increase of 24pc, which Aer Lingus has described as “unrealistic”.
Pilots will begin open-ended work-to-rule starting on Wednesday, meaning they will not work overtime or perform any out-of-hours duties.
There will also be eight hours of strike action taking place on Saturday from 5am to 1pm.
Well over 200 flights have now been cancelled from Wednesday to Sunday – approximately half of those on Saturday alone – with more than 30,000 passengers affected.
The airline has contacted the passengers and said it will either to rebook them onto other flights or offer them refunds.
However, reports are now emerging of a phone scam from a person claiming to represent Aer Lingus booking staff according to Independent TD for Laois/Offaly Carol Nolan.
“Unfortunately, these fraudsters never miss an opportunity to make a quick bit of cash off the back of ordinary people’s misfortunes,” Deputy Nolan said
“They are despicable, and I am urging all my constituents to be extremely cautious when giving out any personal or bank details over the phone.
“The ongoing industrial action is causing massive levels of anxiety and distress. This in turn is leading people to get their hopes up while letting their guard down when they receive calls of this kind.
“The family I was contacted by had €2,000 cleared from their account, money which they could not afford.
“They then had to book another flight at double the cost of the initial flight because they had an important family event to attend.
“These are not what you might term vulnerable people, such as older people unfamiliar with the phenomenon of scamming.
“However, in this instance they were highly stressed, they let their guard down, and they were roped in by the apparent authenticity of the call.”
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