Jul 29, 2014, 10:15 am
Last edit by: Prospero
This thread is dedicated to issues around American Airlines Corporate Security, AAdvantage Fraud division (AKA "Revenue Protection Unit"), and its enforcement of the AAdvantage Terms and Conditions - particularly to selling, buying and bartering awards, miles, upgrades and other instruments - and related issues.
It is okay at this time to gift awards, upgrades, etc. as long as there is absolutely no quid pro quo (no buying or selling or offer to do so, no barter or trade "you give me one now I'll give it back" or anything smacking of prohibited activity. AA is probably the strictest of the US airlines about this. They have a very active and expert AAdvantage Fraud division of the AA Corporate Fraud department, and they can both be aggressive and, some might say merciless - clawing back one's miles and instruments, even closing one's account and terminating status and ability to participate in the AAdvantage program n the future.
There are other ways to commit fraud in AA’s eyes, such as fictitious or fraudulent bookings to try to block seats to increase one’s chances if upgrades, generating tickets to access airside facilities (e.g. lounges) when there is no intent to fly, etc.
To read an example of how the US Department of Transportation has rules on punitive actions by AA, read Joel Hayes vs. American Airlines here (PDF).
Please read on for information and the consensus of knowledgeable members.
Also see AAdvantage Program Terms and Conditions and
American Airlines Conditions of Carriage.
The typical email from AA Corporate Security can not be addressed by calling AAdvantage Customer Service or other methods - you must reply to the email address given. It likely will look like this:
Excellent summaries of information (based on the sum of experiences we have seen in this thread over time) of how to respond:
From JonNYC, our resident expert on this:
Older posts have been archived to the
archived thread.
A number of posts regarding AA's confiscation of 60,000 miles from "Mr. Hayes" for allegedly making "fictitious" bookings in search of whether his upgrade would be likely to progress or not, AA IT issues that might have led to this (or not), AA's replies and the USDOT complaint have been moved to a new thread: Hayes, USDOT and AA: "fictitious bookings" and checking upgrades.
NOTE: Posts about members experiencing account security breaches, fraud, theft of awards and instruments have moved to Account fraud / breach: my account compromised, awards stolen, etc..
It is okay at this time to gift awards, upgrades, etc. as long as there is absolutely no quid pro quo (no buying or selling or offer to do so, no barter or trade "you give me one now I'll give it back" or anything smacking of prohibited activity. AA is probably the strictest of the US airlines about this. They have a very active and expert AAdvantage Fraud division of the AA Corporate Fraud department, and they can both be aggressive and, some might say merciless - clawing back one's miles and instruments, even closing one's account and terminating status and ability to participate in the AAdvantage program n the future.
There are other ways to commit fraud in AA’s eyes, such as fictitious or fraudulent bookings to try to block seats to increase one’s chances if upgrades, generating tickets to access airside facilities (e.g. lounges) when there is no intent to fly, etc.
To read an example of how the US Department of Transportation has rules on punitive actions by AA, read Joel Hayes vs. American Airlines here (PDF).
Please read on for information and the consensus of knowledgeable members.
E.g. AAdvantage Terms and Conditions excerpt: "At no time may AAdvantage mileage credit or award tickets be purchased, sold, advertised for sale or bartered (including but not limited to transferring, gifting, or promising mileage credit or award tickets in exchange for support of a certain business, product or charity and/or participation in an auction, sweepstakes, raffle or contest). Any such mileage or tickets are void if transferred for cash or other consideration. Violators (including any passenger who uses a purchased or bartered award ticket) may be liable for damages and litigation costs, including American Airlines attorneys’ fees incurred in enforcing this rule." (This extends to other AA instruments such as Systemwide Upgrades, etc., selling of extra AirPass seats or baggage allowance, etc.)
American Airlines Conditions of Carriage.
<snip>"While you may consider the AAdvantage Miles in your account to be *your* property, they are actually the property of AA, and AA permits you to redeem them within the program rules set by AA. If AA detects any impropriety (real or perceived) in the use of AAdvantage miles, they reserve the right to confiscate the miles and/or close/delete the account."...
My name is Fname Lname, and I am an analyst with American Airlines. One of my responsibilities is investigating possible instances of fraud, misrepresentation, and violations of the General AAdvantage Program Conditions. Today, I’m writing you about your AAdvantage account # XXXXXXXX
We have reason to believe that the transactions listed below violate one or more of the AAdvantage program conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, prohibition of purchase, sale, or barter of mileage credit and or award tickets. As a result, American Airlines has suspended your AAdvantage membership privileges and use of AA.com® in conjunction with your account – and may terminate your account as a result of our findings. We are in the process of completing the investigation into this matter, and I would like to hear the events as they occurred from your perspective. Please respond to this message by <date> with complete and accurate information regarding the activities listed below:
<specific activity /activities in question>
Required Information:·
To protect and retain the integrity of the AAdvantage program, it is vital that firm action be taken as a result of any violation of the AAdvantage Program Conditions, whether intentional or not. Failure to respond completely and accurately by <insert date>, will result in the termination of your AAdvantage membership and all its benefits, including all remaining AAdvantage miles in your account and any award tickets issued from it. Please, understand that our overall motivation is to preserve the benefits of the AAdvantage program, rather than to take punitive action against individuals. To that end, it’s not unusual for us to release the AAdvantage account suspension once we receive all the detail we request and reconcile it with the results of our investigation. We hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Fname Lname, etc.
We have reason to believe that the transactions listed below violate one or more of the AAdvantage program conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, prohibition of purchase, sale, or barter of mileage credit and or award tickets. As a result, American Airlines has suspended your AAdvantage membership privileges and use of AA.com® in conjunction with your account – and may terminate your account as a result of our findings. We are in the process of completing the investigation into this matter, and I would like to hear the events as they occurred from your perspective. Please respond to this message by <date> with complete and accurate information regarding the activities listed below:
<specific activity /activities in question>
Required Information:·
- Passenger name·
- Origin and destination cities on the travel itinerary·
- Purchaser name (individual, company and/or website), including:·
- Copy of any advertisements to which you responded offering to purchase/broker the use of your AAdvantage miles·
- Purchaser contact information, such as:·
- Mailing address·
- Email address·
- Telephone number·
- Website profile name·
- Your statement fully disclosing the details surrounding the sale/barter transaction referenced above·
- Copy of all communication between yourself and the purchaser·
- Documentation that you received payment
- Copy of all communication between yourself and the purchaser·
- Your statement fully disclosing the details surrounding the sale/barter transaction referenced above·
- Website profile name·
- Telephone number·
- Email address·
- Mailing address·
- Purchaser contact information, such as:·
- Copy of any advertisements to which you responded offering to purchase/broker the use of your AAdvantage miles·
- Purchaser name (individual, company and/or website), including:·
- Origin and destination cities on the travel itinerary·
To protect and retain the integrity of the AAdvantage program, it is vital that firm action be taken as a result of any violation of the AAdvantage Program Conditions, whether intentional or not. Failure to respond completely and accurately by <insert date>, will result in the termination of your AAdvantage membership and all its benefits, including all remaining AAdvantage miles in your account and any award tickets issued from it. Please, understand that our overall motivation is to preserve the benefits of the AAdvantage program, rather than to take punitive action against individuals. To that end, it’s not unusual for us to release the AAdvantage account suspension once we receive all the detail we request and reconcile it with the results of our investigation. We hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Fname Lname, etc.
Blogger Gary Leff: "If you made that mistake and got caught, American usually will go light on first-time offenders provided that they ‘come clean’ and are forthcoming about whom a systemwide was sold to or purchased from and what the terms were. They are most interested in serial brokers and are willing to ‘plea bargain’ with minor offenders to get the Evip-lords. There may be a consequence but it should fall short of account shutdown and forfeiture of miles." Link
I am going to try and provide a summary of the advice. For the record, this is 90% from Jon (JonNYC) and a little bit from other comments and circumstances, I am just trying to provide an easy summary, without all the explanations and reasons. I am happy to have others update/correct.
1. Respond to the questions in the email which you received. Don't try to call or email that person, or anyone else, at AA or DOT or whatever. Just answer the email.
2. Answer every question, in detail, with the facts. Don't use sarcasm or "you should know" or anything else that sounds like to you are avoiding the exact question being asked.
3. Assume that they know more about the true facts than you do. It might not always be true, but in most cases they have way more information than you might assume. So go back to #2, above.
4. If you did ANYTHING that was wrong (not under your interpretation of what you think the rules should be, but based on what the rules actually say) then, if you want to continue to participate in the AAdvantage program, tell them about your error and tell them that you are prepared to pay a correct penalty for your mistake (miles/status/etc) and then go back to #2, above.
1. Respond to the questions in the email which you received. Don't try to call or email that person, or anyone else, at AA or DOT or whatever. Just answer the email.
2. Answer every question, in detail, with the facts. Don't use sarcasm or "you should know" or anything else that sounds like to you are avoiding the exact question being asked.
3. Assume that they know more about the true facts than you do. It might not always be true, but in most cases they have way more information than you might assume. So go back to #2, above.
4. If you did ANYTHING that was wrong (not under your interpretation of what you think the rules should be, but based on what the rules actually say) then, if you want to continue to participate in the AAdvantage program, tell them about your error and tell them that you are prepared to pay a correct penalty for your mistake (miles/status/etc) and then go back to #2, above.
Perfect and 100%.
<snip>
The analysts that do this for a living have the same reactions that any humans do to being lied to and/or condescended to. Therefore, as well as being 100% truthful, go out of your way NOT to be:
-condescending
-brusque
-sharp, terse and/or sounding like you're being inconvenienced
-insulting
-just generally slippery, aloof, evasive and unforthcoming. As mentioned; they know more than you think they do. Always.
DO be apologetic, contrite and extremely cooperative.
Finally, any version of "...in which case, I'll be emailing [insert name or department here] to tell them how I, a [insert years flying AA, status, MMer, $$ spent, etc] customer is being treated" and/or mention of your lawyer, DOT, Chris Elliot (
), this forum, any blogger, etc. DO NOT DO THIS.
<snip>
The analysts that do this for a living have the same reactions that any humans do to being lied to and/or condescended to. Therefore, as well as being 100% truthful, go out of your way NOT to be:
-condescending
-brusque
-sharp, terse and/or sounding like you're being inconvenienced
-insulting
-just generally slippery, aloof, evasive and unforthcoming. As mentioned; they know more than you think they do. Always.
DO be apologetic, contrite and extremely cooperative.
Finally, any version of "...in which case, I'll be emailing [insert name or department here] to tell them how I, a [insert years flying AA, status, MMer, $$ spent, etc] customer is being treated" and/or mention of your lawyer, DOT, Chris Elliot (
), this forum, any blogger, etc. DO NOT DO THIS.archived thread.
A number of posts regarding AA's confiscation of 60,000 miles from "Mr. Hayes" for allegedly making "fictitious" bookings in search of whether his upgrade would be likely to progress or not, AA IT issues that might have led to this (or not), AA's replies and the USDOT complaint have been moved to a new thread: Hayes, USDOT and AA: "fictitious bookings" and checking upgrades.
NOTE: Posts about members experiencing account security breaches, fraud, theft of awards and instruments have moved to Account fraud / breach: my account compromised, awards stolen, etc..
Account audit / blocked / fraud: award / miles / SWU / sale, barter, etc.
Feb 7, 2018, 12:53 pm
#511
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
I can see Citi taking miles back earned on the purchases not paid for, and any bonus you would have also received if you had not paid for the stuff you bought to qualify for signup bonus, but I cannot see Citi having the ability to get AA to close your account or to affect any status you might have earned without the card.
Feb 7, 2018, 1:40 pm
#512
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
I can see Citi taking miles back earned on the purchases not paid for, and any bonus you would have also received if you had not paid for the stuff you bought to qualify for signup bonus, but I cannot see Citi having the ability to get AA to close your account or to affect any status you might have earned without the card.
Feb 8, 2018, 10:47 am
#513
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 18
So just an update... Corporate security still has not contacted me either via email or phone.
Aadvantage emailed on Friday asking that we call regarding our upcoming (pending) reservation.
I called them and said I am replying to the email you sent to call. She put me on hold for like 10 minutes and got back on and said we need you to email us a copy of your drivers license to verify identity to <redacted> I said no problem... Asked about the pending ticket and she said after we receive proper identification we will unlock the account and you will be able to book flights.
This was Friday afternoon... No response yet. Ticket stills shows pending... We will see
Aadvantage emailed on Friday asking that we call regarding our upcoming (pending) reservation.
I called them and said I am replying to the email you sent to call. She put me on hold for like 10 minutes and got back on and said we need you to email us a copy of your drivers license to verify identity to <redacted> I said no problem... Asked about the pending ticket and she said after we receive proper identification we will unlock the account and you will be able to book flights.
This was Friday afternoon... No response yet. Ticket stills shows pending... We will see
Thanks for all the help and information guys.
Glad to say that my account was unlocked and we were able to process the ticket in her name using my miles once they received the email with my DL photo.
Their final email stated that they were tipped off by an agent in 2016 that someone other than myself was trying to use my miles and they take this very seriously and hope I understand.
I believe this was due to my wife calling and trying to switch my ticket to her brothers when ours plans changed like I had mentioned in original post.
Lesson learned.
Feb 8, 2018, 11:06 am
#514
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: North Sentinel Island
Programs: UA Gold, BONVOY TIT
Posts: 777
Thanks for all the help and information guys.
Glad to say that my account was unlocked and we were able to process the ticket in her name using my miles once they received the email with my DL photo.
Their final email stated that they were tipped off by an agent in 2016 that someone other than myself was trying to use my miles and they take this very seriously and hope I understand.
I believe this was due to my wife calling and trying to switch my ticket to her brothers when ours plans changed like I had mentioned in original post.
Lesson learned.
Glad to say that my account was unlocked and we were able to process the ticket in her name using my miles once they received the email with my DL photo.
Their final email stated that they were tipped off by an agent in 2016 that someone other than myself was trying to use my miles and they take this very seriously and hope I understand.
I believe this was due to my wife calling and trying to switch my ticket to her brothers when ours plans changed like I had mentioned in original post.
Lesson learned.
To other viewers of this thread (and I've read most of it) - if you have done nothing wrong and are upfront with the agent, you will get your account unlocked without a problem. Personally I'm glad they would track activity that could seem like someone using my account that I did not authorize.
That said, if you are selling miles or SWUs or doing anything against the TOS, you are probably screwed, so don't do it in the first place.
Feb 8, 2018, 11:09 am
#515
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 18
Glad it worked out for you.
To other viewers of this thread (and I've read most of it) - if you have done nothing wrong and are upfront with the agent, you will get your account unlocked without a problem. Personally I'm glad they would track activity that could seem like someone using my account that I did not authorize.
That said, if you are selling miles or SWUs or doing anything against the TOS, you are probably screwed, so don't do it in the first place.
To other viewers of this thread (and I've read most of it) - if you have done nothing wrong and are upfront with the agent, you will get your account unlocked without a problem. Personally I'm glad they would track activity that could seem like someone using my account that I did not authorize.
That said, if you are selling miles or SWUs or doing anything against the TOS, you are probably screwed, so don't do it in the first place.
They take it VERY seriously. If only credit card companies went to all that work if they suspect fraud!!
Thanks again guys.
Feb 8, 2018, 1:46 pm
#516
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Rapid Rewards, AAdvantage, SkyMiles
Posts: 2,931
I agree, not likely anything will happen to the AA account. However, should AA determine through their review or with Citi proding, that the action was an attempt to manufacture spend to get the miles and burn them before being paid, there may be some blowback. Remember, AA has the right to cancel an account, especially if they feel (doesn't need to be proven) fraud has been committed, or any other reason for that matter.
Apr 28, 2018, 2:26 pm
#517
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 6
AA took 500,000 miles from my account for absurd reasons (to merge)
In a nutshell, AA took away 500,000 miles from my account in April 2017 and sent me an email as notice. In the email, AA claimed "It has come to our attention that your AAdvantage account # XXXXXXX has been involved in the attempted online sale or barter of AAdvantage mileage", and provided a broken link as evidence. I expressed a strong disappoint and ask for more explanations as the provided evidence was unavailable and I had never attempted any online sale of AA mileage. However, AA insisted that the decision was based on the AAdvantage Terms and Conditions, and refused any further communications. In addition, AA also implied that they would close my account (about 100,000 miles remaining) if I didn't let it go.
I gave up on it after several back-and-forths with AA. Since I was deeply engaged in the preparation for my interviews at that time, and later occupied with relocation from coast to coast, getting familiar with my new job, and getting a new place, this farce quickly got de-prioritized. However, when I received a promotion email from AA this morning, the memory of the mistreatments all came back and I feel like I should not let it slide easily.
To be honest, it does not make a big difference to me whether AA gives back my mileage or not, since it is now extremely hard to use any AA miles to accommodate my family's travel needs after we relocated to the new place, and AA mileage is now basically worthless to me. I am bringing it up purely to provide a data point and make some noise in the community. Honestly speaking, I am not a targeted customer to AA. I barely took AA flights, and most of my AA mileages were from US Airways and credit card spend. I burned a large number of AA miles for my family back when the sweet spot of 110k business class round trip between U.S. and Asia still existed. My guess is AA trying to expel the non-targeted customers like myself by taking away miles using some absurd made-up reasons, which has two benefits - 1) to make up for the losses from historical award ticket redemptions, and 2) to expel non-targeted customers from future "misuse" of their AA miles.
In sum, I would like to bring some awareness to the community of what had happened, and also welcome data points of similar experiences and all kinds of comments and suggestions.
----------------------------------------------
Attachment: original email from AAdvantage Corporate Security
Dear XXXXX,
As an analyst with American Airlines, one of my responsibilities is investigating violations of the General AAdvantage® Program Conditions. It has come to our attention that your AAdvantage account # XXXXXXX has been involved in the attempted online sale or barter of AAdvantage mileage.
American Airlines appreciates all of our customers, but we cannot tolerate the sale or barter of AAdvantage mileage. When earned AAdvantage miles are used in this way, the integrity of the program is damaged. This is why our General AAdvantage® Program Conditions clearly state: “At no time may AAdvantage mileage credit or award tickets be purchased, sold, advertised for sale or bartered (including but not limited to transferring, gifting, or promising mileage credit or award tickets in exchange for support of a certain business, product or charity and/or participation in an auction, sweepstakes, raffle or contest). Any such mileage or tickets are void if transferred for cash or other consideration.”
As a result of our findings, your AAdvantage account has been assessed a penalty of the amount offered for sale or barter (500,0000 AAdvantage miles) for violating AAdvantage program rules. Please understand that any future violations of the AAdvantage Program Conditions, without exception, will force us to terminate your AAdvantage account. This action will cause any previously accumulated mileage and accrued benefits to be forfeited, and you will be ineligible to participate in the AAdvantage program in the future.
We value your business and years of loyalty to American Airlines. We would like nothing more than to continue to reward you for your business and loyalty for many years to come. However, in return, we must insist that you adhere to the guidelines of our program. We trust you will agree that participating in the AAdvantage program is worth it.
Regards,
A. H.
Analyst
American Airlines
PO Box 619616
Mail Drop 5555
DFW Airport, Texas 75261-9616
NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not an intended recipient, please do not read, distribute, or take action in reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please notify me immediately by return email and promptly delete this message and its attachments from your computer.
I gave up on it after several back-and-forths with AA. Since I was deeply engaged in the preparation for my interviews at that time, and later occupied with relocation from coast to coast, getting familiar with my new job, and getting a new place, this farce quickly got de-prioritized. However, when I received a promotion email from AA this morning, the memory of the mistreatments all came back and I feel like I should not let it slide easily.
To be honest, it does not make a big difference to me whether AA gives back my mileage or not, since it is now extremely hard to use any AA miles to accommodate my family's travel needs after we relocated to the new place, and AA mileage is now basically worthless to me. I am bringing it up purely to provide a data point and make some noise in the community. Honestly speaking, I am not a targeted customer to AA. I barely took AA flights, and most of my AA mileages were from US Airways and credit card spend. I burned a large number of AA miles for my family back when the sweet spot of 110k business class round trip between U.S. and Asia still existed. My guess is AA trying to expel the non-targeted customers like myself by taking away miles using some absurd made-up reasons, which has two benefits - 1) to make up for the losses from historical award ticket redemptions, and 2) to expel non-targeted customers from future "misuse" of their AA miles.
In sum, I would like to bring some awareness to the community of what had happened, and also welcome data points of similar experiences and all kinds of comments and suggestions.
----------------------------------------------
Attachment: original email from AAdvantage Corporate Security
Dear XXXXX,
As an analyst with American Airlines, one of my responsibilities is investigating violations of the General AAdvantage® Program Conditions. It has come to our attention that your AAdvantage account # XXXXXXX has been involved in the attempted online sale or barter of AAdvantage mileage.
American Airlines appreciates all of our customers, but we cannot tolerate the sale or barter of AAdvantage mileage. When earned AAdvantage miles are used in this way, the integrity of the program is damaged. This is why our General AAdvantage® Program Conditions clearly state: “At no time may AAdvantage mileage credit or award tickets be purchased, sold, advertised for sale or bartered (including but not limited to transferring, gifting, or promising mileage credit or award tickets in exchange for support of a certain business, product or charity and/or participation in an auction, sweepstakes, raffle or contest). Any such mileage or tickets are void if transferred for cash or other consideration.”
As a result of our findings, your AAdvantage account has been assessed a penalty of the amount offered for sale or barter (500,0000 AAdvantage miles) for violating AAdvantage program rules. Please understand that any future violations of the AAdvantage Program Conditions, without exception, will force us to terminate your AAdvantage account. This action will cause any previously accumulated mileage and accrued benefits to be forfeited, and you will be ineligible to participate in the AAdvantage program in the future.
We value your business and years of loyalty to American Airlines. We would like nothing more than to continue to reward you for your business and loyalty for many years to come. However, in return, we must insist that you adhere to the guidelines of our program. We trust you will agree that participating in the AAdvantage program is worth it.
Regards,
A. H.
Analyst
American Airlines
PO Box 619616
Mail Drop 5555
DFW Airport, Texas 75261-9616
NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not an intended recipient, please do not read, distribute, or take action in reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please notify me immediately by return email and promptly delete this message and its attachments from your computer.
Last edited by JDiver; Apr 28, 2018 at 2:48 pm Reason: Redact name of non-management employee, reformat spacing
Apr 28, 2018, 2:50 pm
#518
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
Account audit / blocked / fraud: award / miles / SWU / sale, barter, etc.
Apr 28, 2018, 2:52 pm
#519
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,218
See this: Account audit / blocked / fraud: award / miles / SWU / sale, barter, etc.
in my experience, rarely does AA Corporate Security go after people for fun and without ample evidence.
in my experience, rarely does AA Corporate Security go after people for fun and without ample evidence.
Last edited by JDiver; Apr 28, 2018 at 3:10 pm Reason: Repair link
Apr 28, 2018, 2:58 pm
#520
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Owner of 2,000 TWA shares
Posts: 812
Interesting how you don't actually deny violating the terms. You just want to see the evidence/have them prove it. The reality is all of those files belong to AA, we're just borrowing them from time to time.
Apr 28, 2018, 3:06 pm
#522
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
Er, sorry, no. Some of us here have earned millions of miles and used or gifted them under the AAdvantage Terms and Conditions.
But AA has a very dogged and able department - the American Airlines Corporate Security, AAdvantage Fraud division (AKA "Revenue Protection Unit") that vet’s these things out. We have never had a credible report on FlyerTalk where there was no reason for an account lock, though we do have reports of their reopening accounts upon satisfactory investigation results when AAdvantage members followed their instructions and proved the miles use was actually allowed under AAdvantage Terms and Conditions, or received some satisfaction in return for complete honesty and full cooperation. We’ve also had many members unconditionally gift miles award travel to friends and family without incident.
You may want to read our existing thread, Account audit / blocked / fraud: award / miles / SWU / sale, barter, etc.. There’s some information of interest in the expandable Wikipost at the top of the page, and links to previous threads on this topic, a popular one here.
We will ultimately merge this into that existing thread on this topic. /Moderator
The FIRST email many receive is usually very explicit. The typical email from AA Corporate Security can not be addressed by calling AAdvantage Customer Service or other methods - you must reply to the email address given. It likely will look like this:
“My guess is AA trying to expel the non-targeted customers like myself by taking away miles using some absurd made-up reasons...”
But AA has a very dogged and able department - the American Airlines Corporate Security, AAdvantage Fraud division (AKA "Revenue Protection Unit") that vet’s these things out. We have never had a credible report on FlyerTalk where there was no reason for an account lock, though we do have reports of their reopening accounts upon satisfactory investigation results when AAdvantage members followed their instructions and proved the miles use was actually allowed under AAdvantage Terms and Conditions, or received some satisfaction in return for complete honesty and full cooperation. We’ve also had many members unconditionally gift miles award travel to friends and family without incident.
You may want to read our existing thread, Account audit / blocked / fraud: award / miles / SWU / sale, barter, etc.. There’s some information of interest in the expandable Wikipost at the top of the page, and links to previous threads on this topic, a popular one here.
We will ultimately merge this into that existing thread on this topic. /Moderator
The FIRST email many receive is usually very explicit. The typical email from AA Corporate Security can not be addressed by calling AAdvantage Customer Service or other methods - you must reply to the email address given. It likely will look like this:
My name is Fname Lname, and I am an analyst with American Airlines. One of my responsibilities is investigating possible instances of fraud, misrepresentation, and violations of the General AAdvantage Program Conditions. Today, I’m writing you about your AAdvantage account # XXXXXXXX
We have reason to believe that the transactions listed below violate one or more of the AAdvantage program conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, prohibition of purchase, sale, or barter of mileage credit and or award tickets. As a result, American Airlines has suspended your AAdvantage membership privileges and use of AA.com® in conjunction with your account – and may terminate your account as a result of our findings. We are in the process of completing the investigation into this matter, and I would like to hear the events as they occurred from your perspective. Please respond to this message by <date> with complete and accurate information regarding the activities listed below:
<specific activity /activities in question>
Required Information:· To protect and retain the integrity of the AAdvantage program, it is vital that firm action be taken as a result of any violation of the AAdvantage Program Conditions, whether intentional or not. Failure to respond completely and accurately by <insert date>, will result in the termination of your AAdvantage membership and all its benefits, including all remaining AAdvantage miles in your account and any award tickets issued from it. Please, understand that our overall motivation is to preserve the benefits of the AAdvantage program, rather than to take punitive action against individuals. To that end, it’s not unusual for us to release the AAdvantage account suspension once we receive all the detail we request and reconcile it with the results of our investigation. We hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Fname Lname, etc.
We have reason to believe that the transactions listed below violate one or more of the AAdvantage program conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, prohibition of purchase, sale, or barter of mileage credit and or award tickets. As a result, American Airlines has suspended your AAdvantage membership privileges and use of AA.com® in conjunction with your account – and may terminate your account as a result of our findings. We are in the process of completing the investigation into this matter, and I would like to hear the events as they occurred from your perspective. Please respond to this message by <date> with complete and accurate information regarding the activities listed below:
<specific activity /activities in question>
Required Information:·
- Passenger name·
- Origin and destination cities on the travel itinerary·
- Purchaser name (individual, company and/or website), including:·
- Copy of any advertisements to which you responded offering to purchase/broker the use of your AAdvantage miles·
- Purchaser contact information, such as:·
- Mailing address·
- Email address·
- Telephone number·
- Website profile name·
- Your statement fully disclosing the details surrounding the sale/barter transaction referenced above·
- Copy of all communication between yourself and the purchaser·
- Documentation that you received payment
Regards,
Fname Lname, etc.
Last edited by JDiver; Apr 28, 2018 at 4:51 pm Reason: Add first contact email
Apr 28, 2018, 3:26 pm
#524
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 6
Thanks for the reply.
To answer your questions, I didn't attempt to sell my miles and the evidence AA provided was a broken link that didn't exist. I was upset because AA took away my mileage without enough reason, and refused to provide further evidence and insisted I violated their terms and conditions.
From my end, this doesn't make any sense to me, and the result is AA took away miles from my account without any valid reasons. I understand AA has the right to claw back the miles as technically they belong to AA. But what I am trying to say is I feel like AA made a mistake, and there was no way for me to make an appeal in their existing system regarding this.
To answer your questions, I didn't attempt to sell my miles and the evidence AA provided was a broken link that didn't exist. I was upset because AA took away my mileage without enough reason, and refused to provide further evidence and insisted I violated their terms and conditions.
From my end, this doesn't make any sense to me, and the result is AA took away miles from my account without any valid reasons. I understand AA has the right to claw back the miles as technically they belong to AA. But what I am trying to say is I feel like AA made a mistake, and there was no way for me to make an appeal in their existing system regarding this.
Apr 28, 2018, 3:28 pm
#525
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 6
I would like to add the link that AA provides to me in the original post, which I was not allowed, as I don't have the permission on Flyertalk until I have at least 5 posts.
Last edited by papayasalad; Apr 28, 2018 at 3:29 pm Reason: editing