November, 2008

I was going to Frankfurt this Wednesday. And for once, I was not in a rush, and I had everything with me. I went directly to the automatic check-in machine, and tried to get it working. It was not in a good mood this morning, so it told me I had to contact the service desk – yes, not the manual check-in, but the service desk.

At the service desk there was a huge line of people. I could not tell if this is normal or not, as it is not normal for me to go to the service desk.

As I wait in line, there are rumours that my flight has been cancelled. Since this is a small airport, I immediately understood that I would not be going to Frankfurt today. When I finally reach the counter, sure enough, she tells me that the flight was cancelled, and that she may reschedule me to a flight in a few days – as the plane tomorrow is stuffed already.  I ask her for alternatives, and she brings up a few airports in Germany, including one called Düsseldorf Weese. And surely, Ryan Air does not plan to set up transportation from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt.

I call my contacts and tell them the news. That the flight is cancelled, and that Ryan Air will fly me to Düsseldorf, but not do anything else. I will be stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, and Ryan Air doesn’t seem to give it a second thought.

While we try to figure out a solution, I notice a man in a trench coat running about and organizing. I hear what sounds like setting up a bus, and I grab him:

“May I join the bus from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt, Sir?”

Günther, as his name turns out to be, replies:

“Yes, just grab a hold on me when we have landed!”

And off he went again. I did see him run by a few more times, and I decided that I would leave him alone and keep all my questions for myself.

Several hours later, we landed in Düsseldorf Weese, a place far out on the country side. It would be almost 4 hours drive to Frankfurt from here. It would be a long night for all of us.

I grabbed Günther as agreed, and he showed me – and 40 other passengers – two busses waiting for us. One would be for Günther’s group, and the other would take the rest of us to Frankfurt Hahn Airport. We fill the bus to the brim. Children, mothers, young people, old people, every seat in the bus is occupied.

Even a guy in a wheelchair is on the bus. He is going to Bangkok, via Bahrain in the morning.

Many hours later, we safely arrive in Frankfurt, and I meet up with the organizing committee that invited me to Frankfurt. Only 6 hours late. And an adventure richer!

What are your experiences of travelling? Have your flight been cancelled? If so, did the airline company stand up and help you, or did some passenger have to solve the problems?

And as you can see, the e-mail is well written, and seems quite believable. At least it does to me. Except when they want to me send a full copy of my passport, and a bank statement! Hello! Wait a second. There are no reasons why PayPal would want - or even need that.

So, I decide to visit PayPal just to make sure. I type (yes, type) the address in my browser, and log in. Surely enough, nothing is wrong.

Next, I visit the security center of PayPal, and forward them the e-mail I got. The good thing about PayPal is that they do take these things seriously, so when I sent it, I received an answer only a few hours later (and this is during working hours in Europe!)

Their answer is:

I suggest you keep an eye out for Phishing attempts to your PayPal. Take the PayPal Fight Phishing Challenge. And stay on alert at all times. These things get more and more realistic by every day, and you need to check things before your click or answer such emails.


What are your experience with phishing? What did you do? How did you discover it?