The couple had no idea they had been tricked until they arrived at the airline check-in desk at London’s Heathrow Airport and were told they had fake tickets.
Shashikala said: “We were shocked when we found out they were scam tickets. We were at the airport ready to go.
“I just started panicking and my husband was very stressed.”
The couple made the journey back to Leicester after declining to buy tickets for the same flight at a cost of £5,000 each.
The scam was reported to Report Fraud and Santander – but they were told it was unlikely their money would be recovered.
Shashikala said: “The bank said it was our fault because we transferred the money.”
Their son, Asit Jansari, said he appealed to the financial watchdog, which prompted the bank to revisit the payment, and as a result it had reimbursed the full amount.
“It was the Financial Ombudsman that dealt with matter. It contacted the bank,” Asit said.
“Within a week I got a call from the branch manager to say the transfer would be looked into again.”
He said a few days later the bank concluded his parents had been scammed and the money would be repaid, adding the process was “a struggle”.
Shashikala said: “We never thought we would get the money back. People heard my story and in the end it was a happy ending.
“We are really happy and really grateful to all the people who helped us.”