A FAKE travel agency which duped would-be holidaymakers into handing over £100,000 for trips they would never take is under investigation by trading standards officers and police.
Ozone Travel, of Enfield, north London, advertised its 0800 number in national newspapers and London’s Evening Standard offering cheap flights on carriers including Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, KLM, and Lufthansa.
Trading standards officials said it used a fake IATA number to make false reservations, quoted the ATOL number of an agency in nearby Finchley and gained access to the Galileo central reservation system.
The agency’s dubious origins came to light when customers rang Trading Standards officers to complain that their holidays were imminent and no tickets had arrived. Officers found the premises abandoned.
Trading standards officer Bob Griffiths said: “Basically, when we turned up at the premises it was all closed up. If the people who are behind this have not left the country then they have made a pretty good job of covering their tracks.
“They actually made some bookings but no money passed to airlines. When customers rang the airlines, they would be told they had a seat on the aircraft.”