STUART, Fla. — A Stuart woman has a warning for others after receiving a $5,610 credit card charge following a trip to Santiago, Chile.
It was supposed to be a trip to remember and, in many ways, it was.
However, what happened to Stuart resident Linda Sommer at the Santiago, Chile, airport in December wasn't exactly a highlight of the trip.
"I had to go to the next gate, but I didn't find out until later that that was in another terminal," Sommer told WPTV. "And someone approached me (and asked), 'Oh, do you need some help?'"
Sommer said the man, appearing to be driving a shuttle for the airport, offered her a ride to the next terminal.
"I said all right I will trust this guy. So I went to the van," Sommer said. “Eventually, they said well, that was about $6 and asked for my credit card."
Once she got home, Sommer said, about a month later, she realized she may have been scammed.
"I got the credit card statement and found out it was $5,610.50," Sommer said. "The more I thought about it, I thought, I was taken. I think this was just a scam."
Sommer said there was no company name on the charge — only the name of an individual.
She showed Contact 5 a copy of her itinerary and a map of the airport showing the close proximity of the other terminal, proving there was no need for a shuttle, but she lost her receipt.
"I did call the credit card company later (to dispute it) ... and they said, 'Well, we need to see your receipt.' I said, 'Well, I don't have one,'" she told Contact 5.
So, at this point, the charge still hasn't been disputed.
Contact 5 contacted Sommer's bank but hasn't heard back.
"It's funny, when we grow up, we were (told) never get in a car with strangers and now, all of a sudden, that's all we're doing," Pete Trabucco, a vacation and travel expert, said.
Trabucco said because of that, travelers need to be extra careful when getting in any shuttle or taxi and trusting strangers with credit card information.
“If I'm going to rent a taxi or an Uber or a Lyft or go somewhere along those lines, I'm going to ask the hotel. If it's a taxi, I'm not just going to pick one from the street," Trabucco said. "Research the places that you visit. In other words, where am I going? How far is it going to be? How long is it going to be? When are the taxis running?"
It's been a lesson learned the hard way for Sommer.
"I would say don't hand your credit card to just anybody and maybe ask for more credentials when getting into a van," Sommer said.