A travel agent targeted by fraudsters three times in one week during peaks has urged tour operators to increase security for trade bookings.
Marple Travel manager Debbie Wignall said further checks would help to catch fraudsters posing as legitimate agents to make bookings.
Two of the three unsuccessful fraud attempts on Marple Travel involved conmen pretending to be from the agency; the third was a call direct to the agency.
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In one case, If Only contacted the agency after its sister operator Elegant Resorts received a call purporting to be from an employee of Marple Travel, asking for business class flights and a hotel in Dubai.
In a further attempt in the same week, the Cheshire agency had an email from Tui to confirm a £17,020 booking for business-class flights to Dubai for two adults and two children departing a few days later.
Passwords urged
Marple Travel has now provided passwords for operators to ask for when the agency’s staff book, and Wignall has urged all operators to implement similar safeguards.
“It’s crying out for everyone to do that. If all operators could implement security passwords, that would really help,” she said.
If Only and Elegant Resorts said both operators had been targeted unsuccessfully in the past week by scammers posing as agents.
Sales director Tracy Docherty said: “We’d never accept a booking unless we’re 100% confident it’s legitimate.”
The operator said it would always call an agent to verify a booking and check it with a senior team member.
Trade-only operator Jetset, targeted four times in the past fortnight, has introduced a security pin code for agents.
Sales director Adrian Smyth said: “We moved quickly last week and developers dropped everything to focus on delivering a solution that protects all parties in the chain.”
‘New fraud’
The Advantage Travel Partnership has noticed two specific frauds during peaks: customers ringing up to book last-minute, high-value bookings; and the “new fraud” of fraudsters posing as agents.
“We’ve definitely seen more [fraud] this month,” said chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes, who advised agents to ensure passwords were secure and different for each operator and changed when staff left.
“As we see those sales volumes increase, fraud becomes more of a concern,” she admitted, adding that marketing on social media also meant agents were attracting customers from further afield, not necessarily known to the staff.
The Travel Network Group recently warned members about fake websites using genuine Atol numbers or membership numbers and gave members information for their customers on the importance of booking with a reputable travel business.
Stephanie Slark, director of membership services, said: “Post-pandemic, we have seen instances of attempted fraud and sadly, in some cases, a few of our members have been victims of fraudulent activities. Whenever we get feedback about such cases, we communicate with all our members and make them aware of different fraudulent activities affecting travel, including information on how to protect their businesses and report any scams to Action Fraud.”
Aito head of commercial Bharat Gadhoke members had not reported fraud cases as yet but advised caution and communication in the trade and within companies. “Communicate with staff, if something doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t,” he said.
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