Duped by a travel agent online

[saurabh_sbarve]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I bought a ticket from a travel agent online. She booked the tickets and after confirming the reservation I paid her. But she cancelled the tickets within a week without my knowledge and has not been responding since. She I presume is not a california resident while I stay in california. The only details I have about her is her name and a bank account number in her name. I wanted to know if I sue her and she is an out of state resident where do I file the claim? Also what is the process to get her address from the bank based on the bank account number? I have emails from her indicating she received the money, the acknowledgement of the ticket cancellation and that she is working on it.

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I bought a ticket from a travel agent online. She booked the tickets and after confirming the reservation I paid her. But she cancelled the tickets within a week without my knowledge and has not been responding since. She I presume is not a california resident while I stay in california. The only details I have about her is her name and a bank account number in her name. I wanted to know if I sue her and she is an out of state resident where do I file the claim? Also what is the process to get her address from the bank based on the bank account number? I have emails from her indicating she received the money, the acknowledgement of the ticket cancellation and that she is working on it.

What proof do you have that she is a TRAVEL AGENT? Sue her in California.

 

[saurabh_sbarve]

What proof do you have that she is a TRAVEL AGENT? Sue her in California.

Travel agent might be the wrong words to use. I found her on craigslist where she had advertised that she can book tickets at discounted rates. She claims to be an airlines employee and gets travel discount for her and a few selected members that she can add as relatives on the list. So I booked through her and she cancelled my tickets without my knowledge.

Also I have her bank account number, so to get details about her address what should I do

 

[Zigner]

Travel agent might be the wrong words to use. I found her on craigslist where she had advertised that she can book tickets at discounted rates. She claims to be an airlines employee and gets travel discount for her and a few selected members that she can add as relatives on the list. So I booked through her and she cancelled my tickets without my knowledge.

Also I have her bank account number, so to get details about her address what should I do

I would suggest you report the scam to the police. I don't think you're ever going to see any money back though...

 

[saurabh_sbarve]

I would suggest you report the scam to the police. I don't think you're ever going to see any money back though...

Why do you think I wont get my money back? I have the bank account number. The account is a business account with a reputed bank. I am sure they must have done proper background check and ID verification before they opened an account

 

[Mark Maroon]

I bought a ticket from a travel agent online. She booked the tickets and after confirming the reservation I paid her. But she cancelled the tickets within a week without my knowledge and has not been responding since. She I presume is not a california resident while I stay in california. The only details I have about her is her name and a bank account number in her name. I wanted to know if I sue her and she is an out of state resident where do I file the claim? Also what is the process to get her address from the bank based on the bank account number? I have emails from her indicating she received the money, the acknowledgement of the ticket cancellation and that she is working on it.

I found her on craigslist where she had advertised that she can book tickets at discounted rates.

Craigslist is broken down by states and cities. Did the woman that you paid advertise her services on Craigslist in your state and city? Do you have a copy of her Craigslist advertisement? If yes to all those questions, then that makes a case for jurisdiction and venue in your county in California easier because no matter where she is located, she came to your county in California to do business, subjecting her to your court's jurisdiction and venue. In contrast, if you went on Craigslist to her state and city to find her advertisement, then she could potentially argue that she didn't subject herself to your state's jurisdiction. But the bottom line is that it's not likely she would try to make these arguments, so you should probably sue here where you are located.

You say that you have her bank account number. How so? Exactly how did you pay for the tickets that you obtained her bank account number? Do you have all of the bank routing information for her bank account? Do you know the name of the bank that her account is in?

You say that the ticket was canceled. You can't cancel what wasn't booked. You can't book a ticket without giving a lot of personal information. Do you have a reservation number for the booked reservation?

What is the domain name of the e-mail address?

As others have suggested, you have a long road ahead of you. You aren't sure who your defendant really is or where they are located, they could be in Timbuktu for all you know, it costs money to sue (probably close to the amount you lost), and they may not have any money to recover even if you get a judgment against them.

 

[saurabh_sbarve]

Craigslist is broken down by states and cities. Did the woman that you paid advertise her services on Craigslist in your state and city? Do you have a copy of her Craigslist advertisement? If yes to all those questions, then that makes a case for jurisdiction and venue in your county in California easier because no matter where she is located, she came to your county in California to do business, subjecting her to your court's jurisdiction and venue. In contrast, if you went on Craigslist to her state and city to find her advertisement, then she could potentially argue that she didn't subject herself to your state's jurisdiction. But the bottom line is that it's not likely she would try to make these arguments, so you should probably sue here where you are located.

You say that you have her bank account number. How so? Exactly how did you pay for the tickets that you obtained her bank account number? Do you have all of the bank routing information for her bank account? Do you know the name of the bank that her account is in?

You say that the ticket was canceled. You can't cancel what wasn't booked. You can't book a ticket without giving a lot of personal information. Do you have a reservation number for the booked reservation?

What is the domain name of the e-mail address?

As others have suggested, you have a long road ahead of you. You aren't sure who your defendant really is or where they are located, they could be in Timbuktu for all you know, it costs money to sue (probably close to the amount you lost), and they may not have any money to recover even if you get a judgment against them.

She had advertised on craigslist new york to which I replied. I went to craigslist new york and saw her AD. But I believe she had advertised on craigslist LA as well.
I made a bank account transfer to pay her for the tickets. I cross checked with the bank that the account is registered in her name. Yes I have all the bank details - the routing number, the name of the bank her account number etc.

The ticket was booked and I have confirmation numbers for the same. After a week of booking the tickets she cancelled it as she knew the names of the passengers and the confirmation numbers. The domain name of her email is @aol.com. The account was registered in Atlanta Georgia, I know that for a fact as the bank told me this. So if the bank can give me other details associated with the account I should be able to sue her, is that correct

 

[mtt5010]

Craigslist, in their "Avoiding Scams" section, states:

"Deal locally, face-to-face —follow this one rule and avoid 99% of scam attempts."
and
"Do not extend payment to anyone you have not met in person."
and
"Never wire funds (e.g. Western Union) - anyone who asks you to is a scammer."
(I assume you wired money since you know their bank account number)


But they also have information about reporting fraud, such as to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center.
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

 

[TigerD]

Why do you think I wont get my money back? I have the bank account number. The account is a business account with a reputed bank. I am sure they must have done proper background check and ID verification before they opened an account

Because you willfully participated in committing fraud.

I found her on craigslist where she had advertised that she can book tickets at discounted rates. She claims to be an airlines employee and gets travel discount for her and a few selected members that she can add as relatives on the list.

DC

 

[Zigner]

Because you willfully participated in committing fraud.



DC

Good point - unclean hands and all...

 

[Mark Maroon]

She had advertised on craigslist new york to which I replied. I went to craigslist new york and saw her AD. But I believe she had advertised on craigslist LA as well. I made a bank account transfer to pay her for the tickets. I cross checked with the bank that the account is registered in her name. Yes I have all the bank details - the routing number, the name of the bank her account number etc.

The ticket was booked and I have confirmation numbers for the same. After a week of booking the tickets she cancelled it as she knew the names of the passengers and the confirmation numbers. The domain name of her email is @aol.com. The account was registered in Atlanta Georgia, I know that for a fact as the bank told me this. So if the bank can give me other details associated with the account I should be able to sue her, is that correct

OK, you could file a civil complaint in CA against the woman's name, and then send subpoenas to the bank regarding the owner of the bank account, and to the airline for the party who booked the plane reservation (you will probably have to have the reservation number, or possibly the date, time, flight number, and name of the party who was supposed to have booked it or that it was supposed to be booked for), and to AOL for the subscriber to the e-mail address. If you are very VERY lucky, then you might possibly maybe find an address that you can use to successfully serve the defendant. But that alone is a lot of work, and a lot of luck, and a fair amount of money. Then, if you get a judgment against this woman you will have to spend even more time and money trying to get her to pay. This was a scam. It's not likely that you will find her money.

I don't think you have to worry about unclean hands as a defense. What's she going to do, come to court and explain that she was trying to defraud the airlines, but you participated in the fraud so she doesn't owe you what you paid her?

In the end, my advise is to chalk it up to a learning experience. You went looking for what you should have known was a VERY risky and probably fraudulent scheme to get a cheep plane ticket. You got screwed by your own greed. The best cons prey on the greed of the victim.

 

[saurabh_sbarve]

OK, you could file a civil complaint in CA against the woman's name, and then send subpoenas to the bank regarding the owner of the bank account, and to the airline for the party who booked the plane reservation (you will probably have to have the reservation number, or possibly the date, time, flight number, and name of the party who was supposed to have booked it or that it was supposed to be booked for), and to AOL for the subscriber to the e-mail address. If you are very VERY lucky, then you might possibly maybe find an address that you can use to successfully serve the defendant. But that alone is a lot of work, and a lot of luck, and a fair amount of money. Then, if you get a judgment against this woman you will have to spend even more time and money trying to get her to pay. This was a scam. It's not likely that you will find her money.

I don't think you have to worry about unclean hands as a defense. What's she going to do, come to court and explain that she was trying to defraud the airlines, but you participated in the fraud so she doesn't owe you what you paid her?

In the end, my advise is to chalk it up to a learning experience. You went looking for what you should have known was a VERY risky and probably fraudulent scheme to get a cheep plane ticket. You got screwed by your own greed. The best cons prey on the greed of the victim.

I am sorry it was not the greed but the exorbitant prices of the airlines that drove me to look for other options. My travel was necessary and I did not have the money to pay that much. For the bank, wont it register a legitimate address when opening a business account and check the necessary identification.

 

[saurabh_sbarve]

Because you willfully participated in committing fraud.



DC

Yes I understand I made a mistake which I should not have. I just want to get this done just this one time and never will I repeat this in the future.

 

[Zigner]

How much money did you lose on the tickets?

 

[saurabh_sbarve]

How much money did you lose on the tickets?

I paid her 2400$