Airline Employees Sentenced ‘Reservation Skimming Fraud Scheme’ That Cost the Carrier Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

Information and customer service area at Philadelphia International Airport
The Philadelphia-based mastermind behind a scheme by former Spirit Airlines employees commit “reservation skimming fraud” was sentenced this past week for her role in the illicit venture.
Taylor Thompson, who had pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, was sentenced Thursday to two months of prison followed by eight months of home confinement. She must also pay restitution to the airline.
Five months after being hired by the airline in May 2017 as a supervisor Thompson began her criminal career by first booking cheap, short flights for friends and family. She would then reroute the flight to a farther destination, using her airline computer-system computer credentials, which permitted her to waive the increased cost for the passenger, according to court records.
She then expanded her venture beyond friends and family.
“Admittedly, she then began charging a fee – usually $50-$100 at a time – to rebook such flights for other individuals, resulting in a total loss of $88,229.65 over a seven-month period to Spirit Airlines,” a document filed by Thompson’s lawyer said.
Thompson “earned” $20,500 by making changes to 562 flights.
“This was not a crime of opportunity,” Judge Wendy Beetlestone, a district court judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said. “You initiated the scheme, you recruited others to participate.”
Other airline employees including customer service agents Karima Worthem, Tiana Fairfax, and Theodore Robinson, used Thompson’s credentials to also defraud the airline.
When Thompson was fired in July 2018 :for lack of professionalism after she became involved in a heated exchange with another supervisor,” the other employees then recruited another supervisor whose credentials they could use to continue the scheme.
Robinson made $7,500 from the scheme, and was ultimately sentenced to three years’ probation including six months in home detention, while Fairfax, who made more than $40,000, was sentenced to six months’ incarceration. Sentencing hearings for Worthem and Lebron are scheduled in March of this year.
Spirit estimates that the scheme  cost the airline nearly $265,000.
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