Online airline ticket fraudsters arrested

Law enforcement agencies have arrested 141 people during a Europol-backed crackdown on internet airline fraud ticket.

During the four-day effort, which took place over last weekend, the eleventh Global Airport Action Days (GAAD) initiative targeted criminals suspected of traveling with airline tickets bought using stolen, compromised or fake credit card details.

The operation resulted in the identification of 334 suspicious transactions, which led to the launch of a number of police investigations.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the airline industry loses over $1 billion every year to the fraudulent online purchases of flight tickets.

Millions of innocent cardholders are also affected when their stolen or compromised credit card information is used to fraudulently buy airline tickets.

While the fraudulent online purchase of airline tickets is a lucrative activity for organised crime networks in and of itself, fraudulently-purchased tickets can also be used to facilitate other types of crimes, including people smuggling, illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Link to article