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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:34 pm
  #1  
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Status match fraud

I didn't really know where to ask this, as most places people won't know what a status match is. Basically I know someone who is selling "status'" on various websties. What he is doing is submitting fake credentials (photoshopped with the persons name) from one airline to the other in order to obtain a match. I was wondering what, if any, legal trouble could he get into if he were caught? I care about him a lot and have asked him to stop but he sees it as easy money.
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:38 pm
  #2  
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Who cares.
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:41 pm
  #3  
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Definitely an interesting ethics question. Of course, if he reads flyertalk, he knows now what you're trying to do, so I suspect your relationship has just become toast.

I guess, if you're really troubled by it, you could start by submitting evidence to the various frequent flyer program status match numbers (as posted on Flyertalk)?
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:44 pm
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Originally Posted by adcollect
Who cares.
That's rude...

To answer your question I'm pretty sure the airlines could take away any status and suspend him from their FF programs, but I'm not really sure. Hopefully someone else can help you.
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:46 pm
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Originally Posted by jimrpa
Definitely an interesting ethics question. Of course, if he reads flyertalk, he knows now what you're trying to do, so I suspect your relationship has just become toast.

I guess, if you're really troubled by it, you could start by submitting evidence to the various frequent flyer program status match numbers (as posted on Flyertalk)?
I could do that. I'm worried that like couldn't delta sue him or something? Or is it breaking any laws regarding fraud?
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:51 pm
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Well, if he's cutting and pasting the same phoney itinerary over and over, eventually the airlines should figure it out. I guess with software, you can change the flown flight info, too, and make it look legit.
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 1:00 pm
  #7  
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Wrong forum, at a minimum.
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 1:07 pm
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Originally Posted by adcollect
Who cares.
How about all the people who earned status the hard way who now have to compete with the fraudulent Johnny-come-latelys for upgrades and award redemptions?
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 1:19 pm
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Guess the gig was good while it lasted....
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 1:22 pm
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by Jazzop
How about all the people who earned status the hard way who now have to compete with the fraudulent Johnny-come-latelys for upgrades and award redemptions?
as many on here would say.... They aren't true FF'ers to begin with so the impact "should" be minimal... I happen to live in one of the markets where it affects the situation on a regular basis....
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 3:52 pm
  #11  
 
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Originally Posted by Crazyhotelguy
as many on here would say.... They aren't true FF'ers to begin with so the impact "should" be minimal... I happen to live in one of the markets where it affects the situation on a regular basis....
What impact do you speak of?
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 4:11 pm
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Also, how about the impact on the airline's willingness to perform status matches in the first place? When people abuse systems, the systems get changed or eliminated.
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 4:13 pm
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Originally Posted by majortom546
I could do that. I'm worried that like couldn't delta sue him or something? Or is it breaking any laws regarding fraud?
I believe it's a felony if he is using the U.S. Postal Service to send/receive anything involved with this scam. Not sure how the wire fraud act handles internet-only scams, but it's probably similar.

Last edited by Jazzop; Mar 28, 2010 at 4:37 pm
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 6:21 pm
  #14  
 
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my friend, has this situation

Hello Doctor, a friend of mine has a large battery-powered object lodged in his rectum. I'm calling to ask if I, I mean err my friend, could easily resolve the situation without visiting the hospital
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Old Mar 29, 2010 | 5:32 am
  #15  
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and if the person is doing it multiple times he most likely will not be able to make the status on his own in the future and no programme will status match someone again a second time, especially when they have not been able to keep up a previous status match.
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