ABTA has published a six-page leaflet for agents on how to combat credit-card fraud.
It explains the various types of credit-card scams and offers tips on how to detect fraudsters.
A potentially very damaging form of fraud against agents is a ‘cardholder not present’ transaction made over the phone.
If a credit card is not present and the sale turns out to be fraudulent, retailers are hit with a full charge-back by the bank or credit-card company, often several weeks later.
Jill Watson, a senior consultant at The Travel House in Chelmsford, Essex, managed to detect two attempts at ‘cardholder not present’ fraud by the same person, who contacted her travel agency on a mobile phone.
He went by the name of ‘Michael’ and then by the name ‘Mr Johnson’ and attempted to book last-minute business-class flights to Lagos and Amsterdam in the names of other people.
ABTA head of services Mike Monk said Watson’s description fitted the typical profile of a fraudster. “Travel agents have to be vigilant all the time,” he warned.
“There is no peak period for criminals – they try it on all the time.”
n To obtain ABTA’s free leaflet on credit-card fraud, call 020-7307 1928.