Some recent internet ads claiming to be official airline promotions offering free flights, contests and/or deep discounts are total scams. Most recent examples include fake airline offers claiming to be from Southwest, Virgin and Delta. Facebook and other social sites are used by the thieves to get credit card and bank account information. Victims who subscribe will quickly discover their misplaced trust turns into financial loss. Other scams, while not set up to rob victims financially, display attractive ads offering free flights and other fake deals. They abuse the system to get email addresses for future, often bogus, online promotions.

With the growing sophistication of the internet, traveling seniors can expect more and more authentic-appearing crooked promotions to show up on computer screens. To avoid online air travel scams, deal only with the official airline website and/or do all booking with trusted online and hometown travel agencies.