I've been ripped off [Points stolen and used on Jetstar]

[MEL_Traveller]

Emotional wording in thread title. Yes someone else ripped me off via Jetstar. I will definitely follow up with QFF using the fraud term to get their attention. It has definitely been difficult. Given that it has been over a year since the original loss of points I'm sure the flight has been taken. Yes, you would think if QFF had been willing to look into it when I first reported it, it would have been easy to track down the individual involved.

Something doesn't sound right here.

A call to Qantas frequent flyeris as simple as: 'in July 2018 there is a points deduction for a flight I didn't take, or book for anyone else'.
Qantas will then investigate. You may be asked for a stat dec or other evidence.

Maybe it was confusing for Qantas if you mentioned the points were used to upgrade to business class as this is not possible. For jetstar awards you either buy economy or business. You cannot upgrade. In that sense Qantas ikely assumed you wanted to upgrade your existing booking to business class, and referred you to jetstar.

 

[33kft]

It would be entertaining to see what a thread that consists of the statement "a fraudulent redemption flight has been booked with my points departing x date on JQ" reported to both QFF and JQ before the flight departed and somehow continuing over the period of 12 months would look like.

I've had some pretty asinine back and forward in my time but by this point you must know all involved, their families names and their holiday plans by now? And at this point coming here is more likely to resolve it?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've had some pretty asinine back and forward in my time but by this point you must know all involved, their families names and their holiday plans by now? And at this point coming here is more likely to resolve it?

If the fraudulent transaction wasn't identified until after the flight, the PNR would be historic and no details available. QFFF will be able to contact JQ to purge the booking and find out the names. If it is business class, the full passport will be attached to the booking. Shouldn't be too hard.

 

[33kft]

Indeed, that's why I wonder. What's to discuss? For 12 months? With no resolution?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Indeed, that's why I wonder. What's to discuss? For 12 months? With no resolution?

My thoughts are that QFFF possibly misunderstood the OP when they said the redemption was for a JQ upgrade. As you can't upgrade JQ bookings with QFF points, they were probably right to direct the call to Jetstar.

The issue needs to be simplified. 'A fraudulent booking was made' (period). Please investigate.

 

[33kft]

Surely that detail would have been worked out over the last 12 months, given you've been able to decode it within 1 day of it being posted?

 

[Pleb Status]

Surely that detail would have been worked out over the last 12 months, given you've been able to decode it within 1 day of it being posted?

You would think so, but with the current 'the customer is always wrong' attitude, getting something like this sorted may be harder than it would first appear...

 

[Pushka]

You would think so, but with the current 'the customer is always wrong' attitude, getting something like this sorted may be harder than it would first appear...

And it’s far easier to dismiss an incorrectly ‘worded’ complaint than take on the burden of lodging an enquiry.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Surely that detail would have been worked out over the last 12 months, given you've been able to decode it within 1 day of it being posted?

I don't know. The OP found the transaction a month later. By that time the deatils would have been archived. If you rang up a month after a booking disappeared from 'my bookings' and enquired about a ticket having been upgraded on jetstar, where do they start? Can QFFF even give out the details of the passenger who flew?

 

[33kft]

Can QFFF even give out the details of the passenger who flew?

They never would have. But "lodge a stat dec" does not take 12 months to get to? It's still unresolved now.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

They never would have. But "lodge a stat dec" does not take 12 months to get to? It's still unresolved now.

I'm not sure they appreciated that this was a fruadulent transaction. My first issue with the OP's post was that you can't upgrade to business class wth points on JQ. So it doesn't immediately sound like an issue to do with points being used fraudulently.

Perhaps if the OP goes back making it clearer that the whole points transaction was fruadulent - and not mentioning anything about an upgrade - the matter might start to get moving.

 

[idle1002]

Your Qantas account has been hacked and points stolen. Why on earth would you speak to Jetstar about it?

I Agree!

 

[Isochronous]

Jetstar! Not sure why someone would steal your points for a Jetstar flight. Any self- respecting thief would use them on QF at least.

Anyway, more seriously, it may be just be some sort of glitch. Have you emailed [email protected] as yet? You probably should be starting a “paper trail” for the record.

That was my initial reaction - why use points for JQ!

 

[juddles]

To the Op, this is a fairly stock standard thread where it appears that the OP (you) have some sort of valid complaint, and you have here on AFF a whole team with great experience and knowledge. But as is so common in these threads, the OP fails to give any detail about the real problem. What on earth does "Qantas and Jetstar passing it back and forth between them" actually mean??? How did you know that someone has bought a flight and then upgraded??

 

[DC3]

Emotional wording in thread title. Yes someone else ripped me off via Jetstar. I will definitely follow up with QFF using the fraud term to get their attention ...

Anyway, even though things haven't gone as well as they could have, it seems that it may eventually end up on track, be resolved by QFF and the OP lets us know how it all finishes ....

 

[idle1002]

To the Op, this is a fairly stock standard thread where it appears that the OP (you) have some sort of valid complaint, and you have here on AFF a whole team with great experience and knowledge. But as is so common in these threads, the OP fails to give any detail about the real problem. What on earth does "Qantas and Jetstar passing it back and forth between them" actually mean??? How did you know that someone has bought a flight and then upgraded??

I'll try to clarify. It said on the Activity Statement that someone had bought a points plus pay flight through Jetstar, see attached copy of the appropriate section.

Yes it is more complicated than first stated. The account where the points were taken from belongs to my husband, but he isn't a member of this forum. Initially, he made a number of phone calls to Qantas regarding the issue and they referred him to Jetstar. He spoke to Jetstar and sent them multiple emails requesting they investigate. I do not know the exact result of this as I do not have copies of email chain. As far as I can tell there isn't much of a paper trail, as he mostly communicated with them by phone.

My husband works in a very stressful job and during this past year he has had multiple serious health issues which affected his ability to deal directly with this issue. Even though I offered to act on his behalf, it was too stressful for him to pass on the information.

I've only recently persuaded him not to give up on 100,00+ points. Since then he has asked Qantas to add me to his account so I can act for him. He provided me with the Activity Statement (section attached), along with a couple of Jetstar email responses, which I don't see as very useful.

On the advice of this forum, I have got him to complete and sign a Stat. Dec which I sent to QFF along with a copy of the Activity Statement.

To date, QFF response was to contact them by phone to verify my identity and quote the SR number in the email. I did that and was unable to get access to his account. He was able to access his account online, but when he phoned he was told his answers to the security questions weren't right.

I was trying to reduce his stress load, but that isn't working.

 

[juddles]

paging @MEL_Traveller or anyone else more familiar with Jetstar redemptions.

The OP has added a partial screenshot, or snippet, from the activity statement. I do not fly jetstar, so I do not understand what the activity statement is saying.

It "appears" that some sort of "Qantas and Jetstar" ticket was purchased via points+pay. Maybe it was a fare with one leg on QF then another on jetstar??

But then on the same date as per the activity statement there is the bigger deduction of points for "Jetstar extras" with the same reference PNR. Does anyone know what this could be??

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Given the number of points used (not a round number) I'm guessing this would indicate some sort of conversion from a paid fare to points - a 'points plus pay' type redemption. And that would make sense, if you're hacking an account you don't want to be paying the taxes fees and charges with a credit card or anything else that can link you to the booking. So you'd pay the whole thing with points.

I don't think any of the advice changes. The OP needs to contact QFFF - not jetstar. Advise them an unauthorised award booking(s) has been made from the account. Give them the details as listed on the activity statement. Explain that this matter has been ongoing for a year - back and forth to jetstar.

Ask Qantas to return the points. Provide a stat dec that that points were not used by the OP's husband.

Qantas will have work to do. They will need to purge the booking, find out who flew. Once this is established, and there's no link to the OP's husband. points should be refunded.

If the OP's husband can't remember the security questions that shouldn't be a problem. The Qantas FF centre can reset the security.

 

[juddles]

Given the number of points used (not a round number) I'm guessing this would indicate some sort of conversion from a paid fare to points - a 'points plus pay' type redemption. ...............................

I don't think any of the advice changes. The OP needs to contact QFFF - not jetstar. ......

MEL_T, I agree with the assessment that this is clearly some sort of points+pay scenario. But I really would like us ("us" as in the wider AFF community) to look at this far more closely and see what we can come up with to assist the OP.

As I have said, I am not an expert in points redemptions QF-Jetstar. But this incident intrigues me. So I have a couple of observations and questions - if anyone can address one or more of them it would be appreciated:

(1) Question: The OP's activity statement clearly specifies two transactions, on the same date, and related to the same PNR. Can anyone absolutely confirm what each of these transactions mean? My take on the first is that an airfare was purchased, and that it included both QF and Jetstar legs. Do people agree?

(2) Question: It has been expressed that it is impossible to upgrade a Jetstar fare with QFF points. Is this true?

(3) Observation: As per MEL_T's thought, it would seem imprudent for a hacker to use their own credit card, so it would be "best practice" as a hacker to pay the entire fare with the stolen points. But the initial transaction was for just 37,000 odd points - this in my opinion for a points+pay option means the original fare only cost about $250, if it was paid for fully in points.

(4) Observation: IF the second transaction was for an upgrade to business (as is the opinion of the OP), the points used again would only discount about $500 cash. IF this could be done for an upgrade Y to J, this must be a very cheap and short international route, especially if the ticket is return.

(5) Observation (for the OP): A characteristic of points+pay tickets is that they are equivalent to a paid fare (as opposed to a "classic " points redemption). IF the hacker used this for a fare that earnt points, and adopted your husbands identity also (easy if it was just a domestic ticket) then there should be some earning of points later on in the activity statement relating to that PNR ("DEWCGM")

(6) Question (for all AFF members): Can anyone shed real light on the second transaction. IE what does the points deduction for "JETSTAR EXTRAS" actuall mean? Please do not guess here - someone should actually have seen such and truly know.

(7) Question (for OP): Why do you beleive that an upgrade occurred? Is this from experience/knowledge, or is it an (understandable) assumption due to the two activity entries? Or is it something communicated from one of the airlines in your contact so far?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You cannot upgrade jetstar flights to business class with QFFF points.

Not all points + pay are direct correlations. Sometimes you can still find points+pay at the same level as a classic award. In those circumstances you are generally better off buying the points+pay because you will earn points back. However - if you want to cancel, I think a classic is better (6K points rather than non-refundable, or cancellation fees of $200 or whatever).

There is no reason for there to be any points accrual back to the account used. They could have used any name and any relationship. And never entered an FF number.