The annual cost of fraud in the UK could be as high as £193bn a year, far higher than a government estimate of £50bn, according to a new report. The latest Annual Fraud Indicator, based on research from Portsmouth university, has estimated that private sector losses could be as high as £144bn a year — […]
Month: May 2016
Expert issues cyber crime warning to industry
Cyber crime is one of the “biggest potential threats” to travel companies, according to an expert. Alan Pattison, who runs the travel risk professionals division of insurance broker Tasker & Partners, said the company was witnessing an increasing number of cyber crime cases among clients, which include a range of travel agents, tour operators and […]
Warning issued over Iata phishing scam
A warning has gone out to the trade over an apparent phishing scam seeking to obtain direct payments from travel companies. The alert was raised by Traveltek president and chief executive Kenny Picken after receiving an email purporting to be from Iata claiming to be carrying out a payments audit. It claimed to be sent […]
Social media must do more to tackle online fraud
Social media sites must do more to tackle online ticket fraud, after being used for nearly half of all such scams last year, councils have warned. Sports and music fans have been warned by Trading Standards teams to beware of fake tickets for sale this summer. Major events, including Euro 2016 and music festivals, are […]
SeaWorld manager charged with $100,000 ticket fraud
A SeaWorld supervisor has been charged with theft of more than $100,000 from the company’s Aquatica water park in Orlando, after admitting to voiding tickets and pocketing the money. Lisa Olivardia, 50, was arrested on charges of grand theft and scheme to defraud. Orange County police found she voided tickets between 2013 and 2015, and […]
Cifas calls on UK government to help tackle fraud
The UK fraud prevention service is calling on the government to use the Queen’s Speech to introduce policy and legislative changes to tackle cyber and other forms of fraud UK fraud prevention service Cifas is calling on the government to make tackling cyber and other financial crime a priority in the Queen’s Speech on 18 […]
Online fraud transactions to more than double by 2020
Online fraud transactions are expected to reach $25.6 billion (£17.6 billion) by 2020, up from $10.7 billion (£7.4 billion) last year. By the end of the decade, it’s expected that $4 (£2.7) in every $1,000 (£687) of online payments will be fraudulent. Juniper Research’s study, Online Payment Fraud: Key Vertical Strategies & Management 2016-2020, discovered […]
E-retailers cut their fraud rate
The percentage of online sales lost to fraud ticked down to 0.8% in 2015, from 0.9% in 2013, while the mobile fraud rate fell to 0.5% from 0.9%. Online retailers are losing a lower percentage of their sales to fraud, but paying a price in turning away more legitimate customers and manually reviewing more orders, […]
Unsuspecting’ holidaymakers conned
More than £100,000 has been lost by Derbyshire holidaymakers in the past year because of scams, according to the police. Derbyshire police said a recent report by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, revealed how fraudsters stole £11.5 million from unsuspecting holidaymakers and other travellers in 2015 – including 42 cases that […]
How to spot fake travel websites and holiday scams
More and more of us are falling for a range of holiday and travel scams. A new report compiled by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau showed scammers stole £11.5 million from unsuspecting travellers in 2015 – up a staggering 425% compared to 2014. Cases spike in the summer months and December, […]
Fraudsters steal £9bn from Britain’s small businesses
Britain’s small businesses are losing more than £9bn a year to fraudsters who send false invoices, viruses posing as bills, or who pose as suppliers on the phone, it has emerged. Of more than 1,000 small-to-medium sized businesses (SMEs) surveyed by invoice network Tungsten, almost half had received a suspicious invoice or been a victim […]
Family loses £3,828 after hackers take over account
Police have warned of a huge increase in holiday and travel fraud and, as if to prove the point, I’ve heard from yet another victim. Grainne McPherson and her extended family paid £3,828 for a stay in a Greek villa that they saw on TripAdvisor.com. “We contacted the person by the email that was provided […]
Email ‘most popular phishing tool’
Cyber-thieves are sticking to email as their preferred way to trick victims into falling for scams, suggests a report. The online crime groups were shunning mobiles and newer technologies in favour of phishing campaigns, said the report from Verizon. The annual analysis catalogues more than 100,000 security incidents that hit thousands of companies in 2015. […]
Massive boiler room scam
Fraudsters who conducted one of the largest boiler room fraud schemes ever pursued by a UK authority have been ordered to pay their victims £11m ($15.8m, €13.9m) in compensation, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has revealed. When the investors came to sell the shares after the expiry of this period, they often found that […]
Muslims warned about Hajj fraudsters
Muslims are being warned about fraudsters trying to con them with bogus travel packages to Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of people from the Muslim community have fallen victim to Hajj scams, with some losing up to £33,000, police say. A ‘significant’ number of people who have paid for tour packages for themselves and their family have […]