With Credit Card Fraud a growing issue for travel agencies, tour operators, airlines and other companies that sell travel, ARC has compiled a list of “Red Flags” that may help you identify and stop fraudulent Card Not Present (including Call Centre and Online) bookings. Link to article
Category: Latest Fraud News
10 scams to watch out for in 2014
If you are on the hunt for Rugby World Cup tickets or receive a suspicious email from Royal Mail – beware. They involve two of many common financial scams that have the simple aim of separating you from your money, regardless of the distress it may cause. Link to article
Man admits £1.3m bank cyber fraud
Tony Colston-Hayter pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court, London, to conspiring to steal £1.3 million of credit balances from Barclays Bank before diverting the cash to 41 separate bank accounts on April 5 last year. Link to article
The most horrible holiday scams
The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau recently identified 1,000 different holiday scams aimed at British holidaymakers, and says that criminals separated tourists from £1.5 million in the last year alone. Link to article
Protecting your online information is easy
CIFAS – the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service (in collaboration with Dionach, the leading independent global Information Security company) today releases Protecting your online information: a quick and easy guide on how best to protect yourself and your data when online. Link to article
Top 10 travel scams to look out for
Welcome to the brave new world of vacation ripoffs! The old “catch my baby while I pick your pocket” trick seems downright tame compared with this scary new breed of travel cons. Link to article
Met police to open cyber crime unit
Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe today announced plans to develop a “world-leading unit” of police detectives to fight cyber crime. Hogan-Howe claims that traditional policing of cyber crime has failed and many victims reporting a cyber-related crime never speak to a police officer. Link to article
Cyber crime, financial crime top list of threats
Combating the convergence of cyber crime and financial crime heads the list of priorities for defending against digital criminality in 2014 from information intelligence solutions vendor BAE Systems Detica’s. Link to article
Beware fraudulent Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets
The Metropolitan Police has issued a warning for consumers over fraudulent Rugby World Cup 2015 tickets, which went on sale on 1 January 2014. The Met’s Operation Sterling team issued its alert after it uncovered evidence that tickets for the event – held across venues in England and Wales in September/October 2015 – are already […]
Air passengers target of short message scam
Air passengers are warned to be careful of short message scams that claim that their flights are delayed or cancelled and seek bank account details with promises of refunds. Link to article
Customers warned of fraud risk
Insurance firm Staysure has written to more than 90,000 customers to warn they could have been victims of fraud after a cyber attack. Link to article
Cybercriminals – 5 targets in 2014
Internet security firms Fortiguard Labs, Websense Security Labs, Symantec, Trend Micro and Sophos have all issued their predictions about whom cybercriminals and hackers will be targeting in 2014, and many of them follow similar themes. Here’s a round-up of the top five predicted targets. Link to article
250 calls a week about scams on Gumtree
Police receive 250 crime and fraud allegations a week connected to the online ‘small ads’ service Gumtree. After a young mother tried to sell her four-month-old baby on the website, it has now emerged that criminals are using Gumtree to target consumers. Many people turned to the site to find bargain Christmas presents and January […]
Newest Fraudulent Trend in Hotels
Hotel guests using gift cards as a form of payment are usually not causes for suspicion but with the latest trend in credit card fraud, hotels are in serious danger. Credit card thieves are reprogramming the magnetic strip on prepaid gift cards in order to artificially inflate the spending limit. It is nearly impossible to […]
Fraudster jailed after targeting Tube ticket machines
25-year-old Alexandru Munteanu from Waltham Forest placed the device onto six ticket machines at London Underground stations in June and July. The device was made up of a pin hole camera and a card reader and used at Buckhurst Hill, Epping, Loughton, Theydon Bois and West Ham. Link to article
Ticket fraud targeted in operation on buses
Members of Lancashire County Council Safer Travel team recently carried out an operation with Stagecoach around fraudulent ticket use on the buses. Over the last few weeks a number of fraudulent tickets have been found in circulation on several of the Stagecoach services, operating around in and around the Preston area. Link to article
Target card heist hits 40 million
Payment details from up to 40 million credit cards could have been stolen after they were used in the stores of US retail giant Target. The retailer said it was investigating after discovering that thieves had gained access to its payment systems. The data breach began around 29 November, known as Black Friday, one of […]
Man Jailed for Phishing Scam
Olajide Onikoyi stole a total of £393,000 from 238 victims, including one who lost £19,000. Nigerian Olajide Onikoyi, 29, of Blackley, Manchester, was recently sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for his involvement in a phishing scam targeting students in the UK. Link to article
Fraudsters target ski tourists
Travel agencies have warned of a new internet scam targeting holidaymakers who are booking skiing accommodation online. Some people have transferred thousands of pounds to conmen posing as the owners of luxury chalets. Chalet operator Consensio Holidays has asked for dozens of fraudulent chalet listings to be taken down from rentals websites. Link to article
The 12 cyber-scams of Christmas
This Christmas looks like being a bumper one for online shopping but not everyone is filled with the festive spirit and some have already set online traps they hope you will fall into. Link to article