Every year millions of pounds are taken from our industry by fraudsters posing as customers, potential business associates, or employees.
With police resources over-stretched, it is up to the industry to help themselves and reduce charge-backs, which is where Prevention Of Fraud in Travel (PROFiT) comes in.
PROFiT is being set up to cut fraud out of the industry. Offering advice and setting minimum standards, the organisation, working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, aims to help all travel companies reduce fraud against themselves and customers.
PROFiT is working on a series of best practice guides that will help firms in areas such as credit card fraud, vetting staff and keeping data secure. While some have adopted measures and reduced fraud, others do not know how to stop attacks.
Take credit cards; simple steps can reduce charge backs and losses, for example, checking if the card being used is listed in a database of lost or stolen cards and ensuring that paperwork is sent to the cardholder’s permanent address can reduce losses at little cost.
As customers’ concerns about booking holidays by telephone or online increase, PROFiT aims to build confidence by establishing that members have achieved a standard for transactions and data that will give customers peace of mind.
Details of PROFiT’s launch on February 20 will be unveiled in Travel Weekly.
Barry Gooch is chairman of PROFiT and head of compliance at Teletext