Airlines Warn of Dangerous, Phony Emails

Northwest Airlines, Midwest Airlines and Delta are all warning customers about phony email ticket confirmations being sent out using the airlines' names. Northwest and Midwest said the emails thank recipients for using the "Buy flight ticket Online" service, provide an account number and password, and indicate a credit-card charge. The emails apparently contain spelling and grammatical errors.

Northwest said an attachment that's supposed to be the invoice and ticket is thought to contain a virus that infects the user's computer once it is opened. Midwest urged recipients to delete the email without opening the attachment and check with their credit-card companies to make sure no charge has been made on their card.

"If the format doesn't look familiar to you, and you have not recently purchased a ticket, do not open the attachment," said Al Lenza, Northwest's vice president of e-commerce. Midwest said its corporate security and information technology departments are investigating.

Delta Air Lines also says fraudulent emails have been received by its customers. The airline said it doesn't believe any personal information provided to it by its passengers was used to generate the phony emails. They also urged customers to delete the messages. (KSAX)