Fraud: Agents Are A Growing Target
by Chris Ryall /Fraud is becoming an increasing and potentially costly problem for travel agents whether it involves a someone impersonating a legitimate agent or people making fraudulent bookings.
Alexis Gunderson, Team Leader, Fraud Investigation at Calgary-based WestJet Airlines, spoke on Fraud Prevention – Everything an Agent Needs to Know to Protect Themselves, at the recent Travel Marketplace conference in Toronto.
Gunderson has worked for WestJet since 2000 but it was only in 2007 that the Fraud Investigation team that she leads was formed. It’s her responsibility to oversee the strategic vision and operational execution of the unit.
Payment card fraud detection, loss prevention and chargeback management are the fraud unit’s main responsibilities.
“Most of the fraud comes through our website though we see some shift to targeting travel agents,” Gunderson said.
Frausters: who are they?
Gunderson pointed out there are three main types of fraudsters:
- Friendly Fraudsters – legitimate customers who file and then chargeback in error.
- Opportunistic Fraudsters – people who knowingly accept high risk deals and don’t ask any questions.
- Organized Crime Fraudsters – who purposely stealing identities and credit card to book flights for victims or others within their criminal network.
Fraudsters are very sly and in the case of travel agents will target times during non-business hours to book bogus tickets, according to Gunderson.
Targeting travel agents using other people’s credit cards is becoming more common, she added.
Signs of fraud
How can an agent tell what is a legitimate transaction or booking and what isn’t?
Gunderson outlined some of the more frequent signs of fraud:
- The fraudster uses a third party credit card.
- There are multiple declines on the card when the agent tries to process it.
- It’s a last minute booking.
- Only booking a one-way fare.
- The person has a free web based email domain.
- Popular destination origins such as Toronto, Montreal (very high) and Kingston and Montego Bay in Jamaica are frequently used.
- The booking covers multiple geographic elements.
There are other obvious signs that an agent may be able to detect if the caller is a fraudster.
Is there evasive behavior? Does the caller confuse the PNR details? The person calls late in the day or in a rush.
Or a very common fraudster characteristic: “The fraudster repeats the questions back (and even the simplest), before providing an answer,” said Gunderson.
Stopping fraud
WestJet employs a number of different methods to lessen or ideally stop the fraud risk.
For some fraud-related services it uses Ethoca, a Toronto-based company that helps connect card issuers to online merchants to stop fraud that passes through their defenses and to assist in recapturing lost revenues. It also issues fraud alerts.
Agents should always ask for the three or four digit CVN/CID security code number imprinted on credit cards.
Gunderson mentioned there are other ways agents can verify a suspicious order including contacting the issuing bank, doing a reverse address look-up, emailing service providers, and contacting the phone on file or the number given.
Agents should also check to see if the phone number provided is in service or is a wrong number.
Educating agents
Gunderson says WestJet makes it a priority to educate front line staff and provide different incentives to mitigate any potential fraud.
It’s important that airlines and credit card issuers collaborate to prevent fraud. The airline works closely with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) as well as with the Association of Canadian Travel Agents (ACTA).
ACTA for its members has come out with an anti-fraud tool kit which covers a number of tips, tools and resources for retail agencies to prevent fraud. Back in 2014 ACTA was asked to form a national Fraud Prevention Committee. ACTA list recent fraud incidents and scams that are occurring in the industry and a checklist on best practices in fighting fraud.
A frustration that one attendee raised—and with which Gunderson agreed—is that sometimes the authorities don’t take fraud very seriously if the amount of the fraud is less than $5,000.
There simply isn’t the resources or budget or time to investigate these kinds of fraud. The main targets of fraud involve cases of identity theft and the more organized crime rings using some of the proceeds for more serious crimes.
Gunderson called eliminating fraud an uphill battle but she is proud of the millions of dollars her Fraud Investigate Unit has saved WestJet over the years.
She advised agents to always be on alert, report any suspicious activity and use a variety of tools to prevent fraud.