Fighting for missing miles put the kibosh on this family's elaborate scheme

What happens when you've got an award ticket that was significantly changed due to coronavirus-related service reductions?

Most people can simply call up their airline and request to have their miles reinstated and taxes refunded. But not for fraudsters.

One group of schemers tried calling the American Airlines reservations department at least 19 times in order to find an agent willing to redeposit their miles. But they couldn't find one to agree.

Why? Read on to find out.

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The basics of what happened

At the end of 2019, we reported that some AAdvantage members were having their accounts shut down due to allegedly violating program rules.

The shutdowns were due to opening multiple credit card accounts using targeted mailers that were sent to other members.

Standard Citi credit card offers restrict cardholders from earning a sign-up bonus if the potential cardholder has received a new account bonus in the past 48 months. However, these targeted mailers didn't have this restriction in the fine print. So, people were using these mailers to apply for credit card accounts and earn credit card sign-up bonuses without being limited to the aforementioned restrictions.

Some people really took advantage of this loophole. Maria Borges, her daughter and son-in-law managed to open a shocking 45 new Citi credit card accounts over a four-year period. They amassed over 1.4 million AAdvantage miles in the process across 16 frequent flyer accounts, according to government documents.

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AA started to catch wind of what the Borges family was doing. The airline started closing down some of the AAdvantage accounts for fraud, prompting the children to redeem miles for two first-class flights from Miami to Maui.

Well, in mid-March there was a schedule change on the flights to Hawaii, and the son-in-law and his father tried to get the miles redeposited to a (voluntarily) closed account. It took them over 19 tries without success.

And then Maria Borges decided to file a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Transporation for the missing miles.

Related: AA and Citi have reminded us we have to play by the rules

American's response to the DOT complaint

In a 53-page response to the complaint, American Airlines clearly outlines the many steps of the alleged fraud.

This includes signing up for accounts under fictitious names such as "Bubbles," as well as using Gmail aliases and asking AA to voluntarily close Maria Borges' account due to a "security concern."

American asks the DOT to dismiss the complaint, which it'll likely do.

And for those who don't have time to read the full response, rest assured that AA included some hilarious language like comparing the scheme to a "game of whack-a-mole." It also posits that the likely reason Borges asked AA to close her account was that she "sens[ed] the jig was up."

Why filing a formal DOT complaint isn't the right move

Needless to say, if you're going to engage in questionable activities, then you shouldn't be filing a complaint with the DOT.

American Airlines is likely using its response as a way to discourage other participants from complaining to the Department. Additionally, by including detailed personal information, including the number of times the family called the reservations department, AA is clearly showing that it has a lot more information at its disposal should you submit a formal complaint.

Related: How and when to file a DOT complaint

When complaining to the DOT makes sense

Just because you shouldn't file a DOT complaint when you're engaging in sketchy behavior, doesn't mean the process is worthless.

In fact, filing a formal complaint to the DOT is one of the best courses of action when airlines don't give refunds for canceled flights. A formal complaint requires a response from the airline, which will clearly outline their case. The DOT will then prepare a written decision outlining its assessment.

Just don't file a complaint about missing miles when you've engaged in an elaborate scheme to get the sign-up bonus from 45 new credit cards.