Police are investigating a Huddersfield travel agent over claims that customers have been defrauded. Customer Asif Tanvir says he lost almost £1,000 after two flights to Dubai and Pakistan were cancelled the night before he and his wife were due to fly. Mr Tanvir, who runs a takeaway business in Huddersfield, booked the flights through […]
Category: Fraud Prevention News
Tourist agency boss charged with fraud
A former president of the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network has been charged with defrauding the publicly funded agency. Tonnette Rice, aged 55, faces felony theft charges and filing false public records. She is accused of writing out agency cheques to herself to the tune of $70,000. She resigned from the position in January 2017, […]
Man ordered to repay half a million for hotel fraud
A former carpet fitter has been orderd to repay more than half a million pounds to those who invested in his failed venture to develop hotel sites in Crete. Ralph Christie, aged 56 from West Yorkshire, was found guilty on five charges of fraud in 2015 and sentenced to seven years in jail. At the […]
Industry to combat fraud with new PROFiT system FIN
A new anti-fraud system to prevent travel agents such as Rita Hunter from committing crimes at different companies is set to be unveiled. It comes after convicted fraudster Hunter was jailed last week for six months for failing to repay £51,430 in compensation to travel companies she defrauded, including The Advantage Travel Partnership. The Fraud […]
Agent jailed for six months for fraud
A homeworker who defrauded The Advantage Travel Partnership has been jailed for not repaying the £33,000 she stole from the consortium. Rita Hunter, who ran Hunters Travel in Liverpool, had pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was given an 18-month suspended sentence back in 2016 and was ordered to pay back the amount. But having […]
Government finally closes sickness claims loophole
The government on Friday (April 13) announced it would fix the level of legal costs that can be claimed from package holiday sickness scams. In doing so, it shuts a loophole the industry has long said has fuelled a rise in bogus claims and risked pushing holiday prices up. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said […]
Decisive move to curb claims company legal fees
Travel industry campaigning against the growing problem of bogus holiday illness claims today triggered a “decisive” government crack down. Abta, Jet2holidays and Tui all welcomed the Ministry of Justice’s action to fix the legal costs that can be claimed in package holiday sickness claims which have cost the sector millions of pounds. The action will […]
Couple sentenced after false £50,000 sickness claim
A couple who claimed to be ill on holiday have been given a suspended jail sentence following a £50,000 sickness claim against Tui after they posted pictures of themselves enjoying the trip on Facebook. Leon Roberts and Jade Muzoka, from Derby, spent a week at Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort and Spa in Turkey in July […]
What OTAs need to know about travel payment fraud
A new research report carried out by Edgar, Dunn and Company identifies a dozen best practices for OTAs and other intermediaries to implement as part of their strategy to minimise their exposure to payment fraud, including a look at how to make payments to suppliers more secure. All ecommerce verticals have attracted the attention of […]
Warning over bogus chief executive
Travel anti-fraud group Profit has issued a warning to the trade after a conman was found to be posing as a bogus chief executive of a UK travel agency. Advantage Travel Partnership member Capable Travel received messages online from individuals in the Middle East and Afghanistan who believed they had met the company’s bogus chief […]
UK cyber attacks are a matter of when not if
Cyber Attacks – The potential risks of ever-growing digital integration are not unknown to us. Computers, smartphones and other devices provide countless benefits but, as day-to-day services become progressively reliant on these technologies, the consequences of their failings become more disastrous, with our cyber-security at an increased risk. Last year saw a massive cyber attack […]
We can’t slow down on bogus claims
Tour operators are taking a ‘more forensic approach’ to sickness claims. Ian Taylor reports Thomas Cook has a team of lawyers “forensically” reviewing holiday sickness claims as it seeks to drive down the number of fraudulent claims. Rebecca White, Thomas Cook senior legal counsel for litigation, said: “Thomas Cook’s experience reflects that of the entire […]
UK fraud hits 15-year high
The value of UK fraud hit a 15-year high of £2.11bn in 2017 as more companies made it a priority to tackle wrongdoing, according to a new study. Accountancy firm BDO examined reported fraud cases worth more than £50,000 and found that the total number rose to 577 in 2017, compared with 212 in 2003. […]
Sickness claims – Abta presses government to act
Abta is calling on the Government to implement its promised plans to close a loophole that allows claims firms to cash in on holiday sickness claims ahead of the peak 2018 season. New data pulled from a YouGov survey suggests that nearly one in five people have been contacted about making a compensation claim for […]
ABTA calls for action over fake sickness claims
Nearly one in five Brits has been approached about making a compensation claim for sickness while on holiday, according to research released by ABTA today. Based on a YouGov survey of over 2,000 adults, ABTA says 19% of Brits have been contacted about making a claim. Of these, 14% were approached over the phone, 7% […]
Significant reduction in fraudulent sickness claims
Jet2holidays is “winning the war” on fraudulent sickness claims and has seen a “significant” reduction in the number coming in this summer. But chief executive Steve Heapy, an outspoken advocate of the need to clamp down on the problem, made it clear that the company will not stop until laws are changed to close a […]
Rita Hunter – Police probe reports of bookings fraud
Convicted fraudster Rita Hunter is facing fresh allegations of defrauding holidaymakers. Merseyside Police confirmed it was investigating six reports received relating to flights and accommodation booked through a third-party company but not supplied or paid for. Police have not named the company or suspects involved, but have urged victims to come forward. The six complainants, […]
1 in 10 UK adults affected by fraud
One in ten UK adults (10%) have cancelled their credit or debit card in the last year due to attempted fraud, according to new research by comparethemarket.com. This equates to over five million people becoming the victims of the cybercrime in the last twelve months, highlighting the worrying levels of online fraud in the UK. […]
No single fix for cybercrime
Travel companies should use a combination of solutions to protect themselves from cyber crime, including staff training, antivirus software and “phrase” passwords, according to a cyber security expert. Speaking at the Aito Overseas Conference in Evora, Portugal, Stephen Hall, managing consultant in governance, risk and compliance, Acuity Group, said there was “no such thing as […]
Johnny Pollard faces new fraud accusations
Convicted fraudster Johnny Pollard has been accused of duping would-be holidaymakers out of tens of thousands of pounds. Greater Manchester Police confirmed it had launched an investigation into a travel-related fraud after Travel Weekly spoke to 12 complainants claiming they booked holidays with Pollard which later turned out to be bogus. They were each offered […]