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MP locked my account due to "Fraud", Help {caused by UA error, access restored}

Old Oct 10, 2018, 6:18 pm
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Lessons Learned
  • Don't assume members whose accounts are locked did something bad
  • UA agents seem to be unable or unwilling to help when accounts are locked
  • In post #21, OP said: "The situation has been resolved after escalating to the [email protected] , funny how one email to the right address is more useful than over 30 CS agents at the elite desk."
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MP locked my account due to "Fraud", Help {caused by UA error, access restored}

Old Oct 5, 2018, 12:09 am
  #1  
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 124
MP locked my account due to "Fraud", Help {caused by UA error, access restored}

Hi everyone,

So to summarize.

A month ago I called the MP elite line to apply a RPU to my reservation. The next day I logged into my online account to see that two 15k mile upgrades were applied to 2 random indian passengers flying that day from Russia to NYC. Call to ask what happened and the agents did not know what was going on but decided to lock my account so no more miles could be taken out. They said it would take 2 to 3 days to resolve the problem and that the fraud team will contact me. over 30 days later and about 20 calls and MP just seems to be useless. I get a different excuse every call until I finally reached a supervisor 4 days ago who said that they don't deal with that "stuff" and that i'm sh@t out of luck. gave a [email protected] to email. Emailed the account and still no replay. Don't know why I was not provided that email 3 weeks ago. Worst problem is that since my account is close I can't monitor my profile online or use any of my upgrade instruments.

Update* Tried Facebook PM's with not luck.

Anyone have a email of phone number for a higher up CS department to escalate? Is that email to Oscars CS team still operational? Life of a lowly Platinum Elite.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Last edited by pmlflyer; Oct 5, 2018 at 12:17 am
pmlflyer is offline  
Old Oct 5, 2018, 12:15 am
  #2  
 
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I am so sorry to read your post @pmlflyer. I am not on twitter but have sent a PM to United on Facebook in the past and they have been helpful. Actually also done the same with AT&T and Verizon and they have always helped resolve the issue. I do this as a private message (PM) not a public post. If you are on Facebook I would recommend this as a course of action since you have been unsuccessful with the traditional approach.
Aussienarelle is offline  
Old Oct 5, 2018, 12:32 am
  #3  
 
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Have you traded, bartered or sold any of your miles and or upgrades? I feel there is a part of your story thats missing.

I think you got caught doing something you were not supposed to be doing and now your SOL.
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 12:59 am
  #4  
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Your account is probably been locked by MPcompliance and in those circumstances, nobody will be able to comment or do anything but MPcompliance.

UA (and other airlines) are very unforgetting if they suspect any fraud. Some previous incidents have been reported in MP Accounts Closed by UA Alleging Fraud/Misuse
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 1:04 am
  #5  
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We're in no position here to judge OP, but it does very much sound like UA suspects a T&C violation. As noted, only MP Compliance can unlock a frozen account and that's going to happen (if at all) on their schedule, not yours.
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 2:01 am
  #6  
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So Im basically on the hook because some CS agent messed up and used my miles to upgrade two random passengers?
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 2:07 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Your account is probably been locked by MPcompliance and in those circumstances, nobody will be able to comment or do anything but MPcompliance.

UA (and other airlines) are very unforgetting if they suspect any fraud. Some previous incidents have been reported in MP Accounts Closed by UA Alleging Fraud/Misuse
In this case its Fraud to the Account holder not by the account holder, Dont get why I have to bare the consequences of something I did not do or for following the programs rules. The account was frozen by my approval as the agent said it would be the best thing to do in case who ever took the miles out of my account would try to do it again. The initial error was more than likely caused by the Phone agent I had initially.

Didn't think something like this would take over a month which is very annoying.
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 2:49 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by pmlflyer
In this case its Fraud to the Account holder not by the account holder, Dont get why I have to bare the consequences of something I did not do or for following the programs rules. The account was frozen by my approval as the agent said it would be the best thing to do in case who ever took the miles out of my account would try to do it again. The initial error was more than likely caused by the Phone agent I had initially.

Didn't think something like this would take over a month which is very annoying.
If you really didn't do anything in violation of MileagePlus terms and conditions, you might try a private message to UA Insider here on FlyerTalk. They are not really active in threads anymore, but they can sometimes can get things escalated in unusual customer service issues.

But if you did sell, barter, trade, etc any of your RPUs/GPUs/Miles/ Benefits, etc....then you are really out of luck. If you have done anything in the past even remotely like that, best to read the thread that WineCountryUA posted....
goodeats21 is offline  
Old Oct 5, 2018, 5:52 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by pmlflyer
In this case its Fraud to the Account holder not by the account holder, Dont get why I have to bare the consequences of something I did not do or for following the programs rules. The account was frozen by my approval as the agent said it would be the best thing to do in case who ever took the miles out of my account would try to do it again. The initial error was more than likely caused by the Phone agent I had initially.

Didn't think something like this would take over a month which is very annoying.
I doubt that the unauthorised mileage deduction was related to the RPU, and it rather is coincidence in timing. There's no way I can imagine that an agent would 'fat finger' something like that.

Did you review your account (before being locked) to see if there had been other suspect activity?
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 6:17 am
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by pmlflyer
In this case its Fraud to the Account holder not by the account holder, Dont get why I have to bare the consequences of something I did not do or for following the programs rules. The account was frozen by my approval as the agent said it would be the best thing to do in case who ever took the miles out of my account would try to do it again. The initial error was more than likely caused by the Phone agent I had initially.

Didn't think something like this would take over a month which is very annoying.
As others have told you here, you are likely suspected of a violation of the T + Cs. This is exactly what happened to a friend of mine when he sold some GPUs.
I know that is not what happened in your case but, for some reason, an algorithm has flagged your account.

I would make a detailed timeline of events which led up to the discrepancy and forward that via certified mail to WHQ in Chicago.

Under no circumstances threaten UA with legal action. If you do, they will no longer communicate with you and pass your case off to their legal department.
Right now, your case is likely in the hands of a special desk in corporate security and compliance. There is a phone number that my friend called when he got his account reinstated and I will see if I can find it for you. But it has been quite a while since his incident.

Good Luck.
zombietooth is offline  
Old Oct 5, 2018, 6:19 am
  #11  
 
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Of course, since UA operates like the Government at times, it's possible this matter is simply sitting in someone's inbox at UA, waiting for that person to get around to it. As others have suggested , a pm to UA Insider might get the ball rolling.
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 6:37 am
  #12  
 
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I don't know why folks on this thread are jumping straight to suggestions that the OP is in violation of the T&Cs. Surely sometimes people's account credentials get stolen. It's not like UA's "security questions" are very secure.

OP, this sounds awful and you have my sympathy. Hopefully you just need to be patient while UA completes its review. Reaching out to the various channels suggested upthread may help, but it's a big organization.....
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 6:55 am
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by symphonicman
I don't know why folks on this thread are jumping straight to suggestions that the OP is in violation of the T&Cs. Surely sometimes people's account credentials get stolen. It's not like UA's "security questions" are very secure.

OP, this sounds awful and you have my sympathy. Hopefully you just need to be patient while UA completes its review. Reaching out to the various channels suggested upthread may help, but it's a big organization.....
I don't think ANYONE said he is in violation of the T&C.

They are saying United thinks he is in violation of the T&C

United, generally doesn't lock someone account for S&G, they generally have a reason. Then they investigate to either prove or disprove that reason and take appropriate action from there

Either way, the account is locked and until they get good and ready to look at it, you have to sit tight and wait.
Often1, Kacee and KDS777 like this.
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 8:05 am
  #14  
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When an account is hacked, it may be locked for a few days while UA confirms that the account holder was not involved. But, given that this is a month old, you should presume that UA believes that you were somehow involved OR UA's investigation suggests that you may have been involved in other violations of the t&c.

Please understand that nobody here can know what you did or did not do and thus nobody has accused you of wrong doing. Simply that UA likely believes that it has something.

If you search FT, you will find that none of the customer service channels are authorized to deal with you. Calling, emailing, Twitter and the like are useless and will generate either nothing or "someone will respond." The fact is that UA will respond when its investigation is complete and it has made findings. Either your account will be unlocked and you will receive a note apologizing for "any inconvenience" or the account will be zeroed out and closed and you will be barred from MP. In the meantime, stop reaching out to UA. It will not help you.

One area for you to consider is not whether you yourself have committed fraud, but whether there is any other person who has access to your MP account. If UA is seeing logins from other IP addresses at roughly the same time as you may have been logging in, that would be something of concern and a violation of its t&c.
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Old Oct 5, 2018, 8:15 am
  #15  
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Interesting that the OP completely ignored this very pertinent question in post #3 :

Originally Posted by PreMerger
Have you traded, bartered or sold any of your miles and or upgrades? I feel there is a part of your story thats missing.....
Bonehead is offline  

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