PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman spent months trying to get a refund after her American Airlines flight was canceled — only to discover she had been scammed by someone impersonating the airline.

Cher, from Phoenix, came to the "On the Road with Let ABC15 Know" event in Glendale earlier this month seeking help with her consumer problem.

"I've had an issue getting a refund from American Airlines. So, last September my flight was canceled and I called and got rebooked. I wanted to go to Santa Fe, and I could only be rebooked to Albuquerque and so they charged me $1,010 for that rebooking and then they said that it was going to be repaid very very soon," Cher explained.

Cher said she never received her money back. After repeatedly following up, she says she was eventually told she would need to pay the airline more money to receive her refund.

"You're gonna have to pay us $1,010 and we're gonna give you $2,020 and we're gonna give you a one-way ticket. We're gonna give you… the other perk was like $260 because it's taken so long to get the refund and so I never heard back from them since January," Cher said.

If that doesn’t sound right to you, it’s because it’s not. You should never have to pay money to receive a refund.

When Cher's flight was canceled, she searched online for the phone number for American Airlines. But the number she called was not the airline — it was someone pretending to be American Airlines.

"I wanna get my $2,020 back," Cher said.

Cher says she sent all her communications to American Airlines, and the company determined she had been in contact with an imposter. She is now working to dispute the charges with her bank.

Always go directly to a company’s official website for contact information. Do not click on the first search result that appears.

What should happen when an airline cancels your flight

Regardless of whether a cancellation is caused by weather or staffing issues, federal law entitles passengers to a full refund when an airline cancels a flight.

Airlines cannot force passengers to accept a voucher or credit in place of a refund.

Airlines must issue refunds within 7 days for credit card purchases and within 20 days for payments made by check or cash.

If that window passes without a refund being issued, passengers should:

• File a dispute with their bank
• File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation

You can file a complaint against an airline with the U.S. Department of Transportation here.

Our next On the Road with Let ABC15 Know event will be held at the District Stage at Tempe Marketplace on Tuesday, October 20. Learn more about the event here:

Do you need help with a consumer problem? Let ABC15 Know! Email Consumer@abc15.com.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.