Scam Targets Cruisers Through Popular Cruise Director
Carnival Cruise Line is well known for its dynamic and energetic cruise directors who go all out to make every voyage a spectacular one for every guest onboard.
The very popularity of a cruise director, however, can create an opportunity for fraud and scams – but not for the CDs themselves. Instead, scam artists have begun usurping the names and activities of cruise directors to target unsuspecting guests.
One such cruise director is Kyndall “Fire” Magyar, one of the top cruise directors aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s flagship, Carnival Jubilee.
Fortunately, Magyar herself is very alert to potential scams and takes steps to warn her fans of illicit solicitations.
“Please never ever fall for any of these people. I have not and will not ever ask you to buy a package, promise special treatment or tours, or give you access to premier content for a cost,” Magyar noted. “If you are ever reached out to by anyone from “Kyndall Fire’s Team”, or “Kyndall’s Handler,” they are LYING TO YOU!”
Magyar’s dynamic personality and popular social media presence have led scammers to impersonate her in an attempt to trick unsuspecting fans and Carnival cruise guests. She has more than 150,000 followers on her Facebook page, plus nearly 50,000 on Instagram.
Magyar shared a screenshot of a recent scam message, which seemed to begin innocently enough – other than the obvious solicitation.
“Thank you for your generous decision to join us as a mid – level donor, grateful for your support and having you on this journey with us,” the message reads.
The first clue that the message is not legitimate is the spacing error for “mid – level” which is then followed by grammatical mistakes, missing punctuation, and missing words in the rest of the message.
The message goes on to offer a PayPal email address from a free email server, with a request that the “family and friends option” be used – without the proper capitalization, and incorrectly phrased. I’ve used PayPal for many years, and the phrase has always been “Friends and Family” never “family and friends.”
It is small inconsistencies like this that are often a sign of scams.
Even more alarming is that the scam goes on to request that guests send along their full name as well as a photo for their “donor ID card” – which can make anyone easy prey for identity theft.
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Magyar urgers her online fans to report any fake accounts they find using her information for such solicitations. Of course, no guests should ever make payments or share their personal information with any unknown accounts.
Brand Ambassador Issues Similar Warnings
Carnival’s cruise directors aren’t the only popular cruise line figures to become scam-related targets. John Heald, the cruise line’s official brand ambassador, frequently has his image stolen by scammers creating fake accounts.
Just recently, one guest who had fallen for a scammer managed to reach out to the real Heald.
“I private messaged you several weeks ago to let you know how I loved Carnival Cruise Line. We have been chatting privately since then,” the guest explained.
Heald never uses private messages to communicate with guests, no matter what the situation. Even for more personal topics, such as spreading the ashes of a loved one, his communications are done publicly through his daily Facebook posts.
“Yesterday, you reached out to me in a private chat. At first nothing was amiss,” the guest continued. “Then you stated you were on a ship and you were low on your subscription to Apple and could I go buy you a subscription.”
The guest did not appear to be suspicious of the solicitation, just upset to be asked to buy something for someone they had never met in person.
“I’m sharing this because hopefully it will be a warning to all of you. I feel genuinely sorry for this poor lady and I have let her know how sorry I am,” Heald responded. “But this of course was not me. This is one of the many fake pages who are trying to make money from you by pretending to be me.”
As with Magyar, Heald has accounts on both Facebook and Instagram. Together, he has nearly 650,000 fans and followers.
It can be fun for cruise guests to like, follow, and interact with their favorite cruise personalities online, but it is always critical to protect one’s privacy.
In May 2024, a booked guest aboard Carnival Celebration had her family’s nearly $15,000 cruise cancelled shortly before embarkation because she had shared her booking information on social media, leaving her vulnerable to scammers.
It isn’t just Carnival Cruise Line guests who are subject to such fraud. Virgin Voyages has been issuing scam warnings to guests, and Royal Caribbean guests have likewise fallen victim to too-good-to-be-true booking scams.
Scams with shore tours, port transfers, onboard credit, and other aspects of a cruise vacation are always evolving.
Any travelers should remain vigilant about their plans and always work only with authorized cruise line representatives or through reputable booking engines for their next cruise vacation.