Travel fraud database stops six criminals in first six months
Six criminals within six months have been prevented from “consortia-hopping” thanks to the trade’s first industry-wide fraud intelligence database.
The Fraud Intelligence Network (Fin) is a database of more than 1,000 criminals. After a soft launch in June, it officially launches this week, at the culmination of the Prevention of Fraud in Travel (Profit) cybercrime campaign Secure Our Systems, run in partnership with Travel Weekly.
Fin has created an industry standard for vetting travel agents applying to join an organisation, to ensure fraudsters are unable to trade and switch between consortia.
Profit said Fin could be pivotal in stopping convicted fraudsters, such as Rita Hunter, from continuing to commit crimes. The launch follows the jailing of the former homeworker last month for fraud.
Barry Gooch, Profit chairman, said Fin represented a model all travel membership organisations should adopt, to “retain confidence in the industry”, as well as to drive down the risks and costs of crime.