Fake airline offering non-existent jobs to desperate seekers

In this poor economy there are two things with no shortage – people looking for a job, and people looking to take advantage of people looking for a job.

Sadly, when the two meet, someone is going to get scammed, and usually this means someone who is down on luck, gets hurt even more.

Such is the case of “Bull Airways”. This completely fake airline posted job listings looking for flight attendants, offering $17 per hour, with a $1/year raise. El Paso local Patricia Solis jumped on the ad, and had a meeting with the airline CEO at the fountain of a local mall (that should have been the first alarm bell).

She filled in a W-2, handing him all her personal information, and was told she’d hear back from him. She was indeed contacted, and offered the job, based out of Seattle.

By now, she obviously knew something was wrong. The local ABC affiliate tracked down David Sanchez, the so-called CEO of this airline, and discovered that the whole thing was a scam. The FAA had no records of the airline, and Mr. Sanchez initially claimed he was a Canadian businessman trying to start a US airline, but after a bit of prodding, he admitted to the fraud. It isn’t entirely clear whether he was just pulling an identity theft scam, or if he had more sinister plans in mind.

What strange things have been found on planes?