We found out we'd bought fake flights at check-in

A couple who lost more than £2,500 on a trip they had been planning for eight years only found out they had been scammed when they arrived packed and ready to fly at Heathrow Airport.

Dinesh, 80, and Shashikala Jansari, 78, from Leicester, believed they had booked their two-month trip to visit relatives in Gujarat, India, through travel company Expedia, and had not suspected they had been tricked until arriving at the airline check-in desk.

"My husband was just standing there, we were shocked," said Shashikala. "I just thought, what shall I do?"

Now the couple are warning others in their position to be aware scammers "are everywhere" and to seek help if you are not confident online.

The Jansaris are no strangers to travel.

The couple, who moved from Uganda to Leicester more than 50 years ago, owned a property in India, which they sold before the Covid-19 pandemic.

They had previously arranged their trips abroad through a travel agent, but having planned to return to the country for eight years, Dinesh decided to instead shop around online for a cheaper deal.

He said he thought he was dealing with reputable website Expedia, but instead had ended up on a fake page that then moved his inquiry on to a WhatsApp conversation with an account called Fly Expedia.

The scammer asked for a direct bank transfer of £2,502, meaning the protections that come from using a credit card do not apply.

"It was a very good deal," Shashikala said. "And the name said Expedia, which my husband had heard about.

"I don't know how [the scammer] got his number, but he started chatting on WhatsApp, and my husband booked with them."

The couple booked a separate coach to the airport, which was cancelled at short notice, so their son drove them from Leicester to the London airport.

Shashikala said: "When we reached Heathrow and went to the counter, the girl was trying to find [our booking], and she couldn't.

"She called her seniors. I was thinking 'what are they doing, why is it taking so long?'

"And then she looked at the ticket my husband had printed, and she told us very nicely 'these are fake tickets'.

"We were in shock. I said 'no, it can't be'."

The couple were told they could buy two tickets on the flights, but the cost would be about £5,000 each, so they were left waiting for their son to turn around - having driven as far as Milton Keynes - to collect them.

Having believed they had booked a lounge where they could eat breakfast after check-in, they ended up having to grab food at the services on the way back to Leicester.

"I just started panicking and my husband was very stressed," said Shashikala. "We were shocked."

A report was made about the scam to Report Fraud while the couple also contacted their bank - but they have been told it is unlikely their money can be recovered.

The Jansaris did manage to travel to Ahmedabad a week later, after booking a later trip through a Leicester travel agent.

Shashikala said: "The bank says that it's not their fault because we transferred the money, so I don't know if we will get the money back or not, but we wanted to go to India because my sister is not well, so we booked through a travel agent and went.

"But it was a bad experience.

"Scammers are very clever. I don't know how they do it, but they use old people like us.

"I would advise people to ask the younger generation to help them - scammers are everywhere."

A spokesman for Expedia said it was "sorry" to hear of the couple's experience, and added: "All legitimate transactions with Expedia should take place through our official website or mobile app.

"Travellers should never receive a message like this from our team.

"Anyone who does experience this should contact their banking institution to address any concerns about payments they may have made."

Shashikala has been attending sessions run by Healthy Living at Rushey Mead Recreation Centre, which provide fraud advice - including to double check who you are dealing with online, have strong passwords, and to only use trusted websites.

Bharat Kanabar, of Healthy Living, said: "AI [artificial intelligence] is a big topic in itself, people are worried about hacking into their Facebook accounts, mimicking family voices saying 'mum and dad I need money'.

"It's a big area that people need to be educated in."

Devi Singh Patel, of Healthy Living, said the sessions were having a positive effect.

"In my group, they they are finding a little bit of confidence now," she said.

Leicestershire Police fraud team supervisor Nicole McIntyre said fraud and cyber-crime now made up half of reported crime in England and Wales, and urged people not to rush into purchases online.

She said: "They use the technology to pretend to be someone else - there's a lot of software called spoofing software, which they can use to pretend to be presenting as different phone numbers, different text message numbers, and then they share them links that will only work for that person that go off to different websites.

"Go away and ask some trusted family and friends for some advice. Check with the real person.

"If they're asking for money, go and check with the genuine person and make sure you're feeling happy and confident before you transfer any of your hard-earned money."

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