vikuba Posted October 17, 2014 Report Posted October 17, 2014 http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/...-Tickets-278326151.html#.VD9sDdmZ2YY.facebookIbluebirdCOLLEGE STATION - Some Texas A&M students have been taken for a ride, and not the ride they paid for.16 international students tried to buy less expensive airline tickets to fly home to India in December, and they didn't get the tickets after wiring the money.Texas A&M University Police and the Better Business Bureau are warning people to be careful where you try to buy tickets, especially from companies you're not familiar with.Some of these students don't think they'll be able to fly home now for the holidays.Many of the graduate students from India tell us they saved money for six months to be able to travel home and thought they were getting a good deal when they found a travel agent selling airline tickets on British Airways for $1,300 each.The scam started after one of the students made a post on an Indian website called Sulekha which is similar to Craigslist looking for travel offers for tickets.They found what they thought was a legitimate travel agency called Jasmine Travel and spoke with the scammer on the phone who had an Indian accent.They were offered tickets for $700 less than other sites.They also say they were given confirmation numbers that checked out with the airline but days later found out their bookings had been cancelled.Students wired money to several big banks including Chase, Bank of America and Citibank and hope to get their money back."All of us we booked grouped together we booked 11 tickets from him," said Anurag Mittal, a Texas A&M Graduate Student."We are quite depressed and dejected," added Ankit Joshi, a Texas A&M Graduate Student."We're really not sure about how the funds are going to be used we are really worried about that," said Meghanath Reddy, another graduate student."Just do a search and at the end of that search in this case, Jasmine Travel, put the word scam," suggested Bill McGuire of the Better Business Bureau of the Brazos Valley and Deep East Texas.Those plane tickets can normally cost anywhere from $1,800 to $2,200 each during the peak travel month of December.Jasmine Travel is believed to be operating out of Indonesia.In all they lost about $17,000.The Better Business Bureau also warns if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.Texas A&M University Police have contacted the FBI because it's believed two of the travel agency's servers are in Georgia.
vikuba Posted October 17, 2014 Author Report Posted October 17, 2014 http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Texas-AM-Students-Scammed-Buying-Plane-Tickets-278326151.html#.VD9sDdmZ2YY.facebook
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