He booked travel but he was tricked. Here’s how it happened.

Have you ever searched online for a business or a service?
It’s really common for websites and phone numbers to come up high in a search, even at the tippy top of the results, that aren’t quite what they appear to be.
Some are a little misleading. Some are downright deceptive.
It can happen for any kind of business. We saw last year when we exposed how patient brokers impersonate reputable substance abuse treatment facilities to get referral payments or kickbacks.
It’s also very common with travel websites. When you search for a hotel room or a flight, some websites lead you to believe you’re dealing directly with the brand. But often, it’s actually a third party company. They may indeed be able to book the trip for you, but you may be charged additional fees and get stuck with less favorable cancellation policies than if you had booked direct.
That’s what happened to Jeffrey Winik when he booked two round trip tickets from Trenton-Mercer Airport to Tampa, Florida.
“The family trip was planned as a memorial service for my brother-in-law who passed away earlier this year,” he said. “We were going to take his ashes and have them buried into a coral reef off the west coast of Florida.”
He made the booking with what he thought was Frontier Airlines on June 8.
“The tickets were issued by Frontier at a cost of $252.92 with a separate charge for using our credit card of $129.98,” the Kendall Park man said. “Together, the final fare with the credit card charge was competitive with other carriers out of Newark.”
When he made the booking, he said he was told the $129.98 fee would show on his credit card statement as a separate charge by a separate company name. We’re not naming the company here because it’s very similar to the name of a legitimate company, and we don’t want our readers to confuse the two.
Then came Hurricane Milton, and Winik’s Oct. 10 trip had to be canceled.
“I called Frontier, and they immediately credited $252.92 but they said because the credit card charge was separate and apart as listed on our statement, I would have to deal with that company,” he said.
But when he called the phone number on his statement, it was disconnected.
“I did a Google search on the company and found that while they have a street address in a residential neighborhood, it was impossible to get in touch with them,” he said.
When Winik asked for help from Bamboozled, he said he believed he had booked directly with Frontier.
We tried an email address for the other company, and it bounced back as undeliverable. The website no longer exists. So we asked Frontier to take a closer look.
It said Winik indeed booked through a third party, the airline said.
“From our end, there is no way to tell exactly how this happened, though it’s possible he found the site through a Google search and believed he was purchasing directly from Frontier,” a spokesman said. “We are not affiliated with this third party and have no involvement in any charges they applied.”
At our suggestion, Winik looked through his calling history on his phone to see what number he dialed when he made the reservation. He found it and made the call.
“They answered “Reservations” without identifying themselves,” he said. “When I questioned who they make reservations for, the answer was Breeze Airlines as well as Frontier. After further questioning, they did say they were a ‘travel agency’ without revealing its name.”
He said he’s not going to dispute the charge with his credit card because it’s well past the 60 days consumers have to file a dispute under the Fair Credit Billing Act. Many credit card networks give consumers 120 days, but we’re past that time, too.
“Lesson learned,” Winik said, hoping others will learn from his mistake.
“Know who you are actually doing business with and read — as well as understand — all the conditions of the sale,” he said. “In fact, the company doing business may be disguised.”
Absolutely. When you look online for a company phone number, or for its website, be wary and take your time. Bad actors will use the logos of real companies and take other steps to trick you as part of an impersonation operation.
In case you were wondering, Winik and his family have rescheduled their memorial trip for the springtime.
We hope they have a peaceful visit.
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @KPMueller.