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Contact Us
Need to report fraud? Have questions about fraud?
Phone: 703-816-8137
Fax: 703-816-8138
Email: FIFP@ARCcorp.com
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Fraud Prevention
ARC is dedicated to preventing fraud. Learn more
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Credit Card Fraud Continues to Impact Agents
You may be held liable for a chargeback when issuing tickets using credit card information that you receive via email and/or fax
from an unknown, first-time client, who requests that tickets be issued in the names of others. This can happen even if you have
receive an approval code, if the "true" cardholder rejects the charge. PLEASE READ ON. . .
This is a scheme that apparently originated in Nigeria and has been on-going for several years. As a part of this scheme, a
first-time or unknown client (the fraudster) contacts a travel agent via fax or e-mail with requests for tickets for travel out of
Africa, mostly Nigeria, to Europe or to the United States. The fraudster usually requests that the agent issue e-tickets that
often include transfers in Western Europe, e.g., Amsterdam and Paris. ARC has also noted that some of these requests include
travel that originates in countries in Western Europe, in particular, Great Britain. The fraudster uses stolen credit card
information to pay for the tickets and will often provide the travel agent with copies of credit card front and back images,
along with a cardholder’s passport and/or driver’s license. In addition, the fraudster may provide a copy of a signed document
purportedly from the cardholder, authorizing such charges. The key word here is "copies." All of these "copies" lead the agent
to believe that it is the cardholder, or cardholder's representative, sending the information to the travel agent and thus, after
receiving an approval code, leads the travel agent to believe that the transaction is "valid."
Patterns that ARC has identified through contacts with agents who have relied upon faxed copies of credit card and personal
identification from unknown clients include some, or all, of the following:
- Agents are usually contacted for the first time via email or the TTY service (for the hearing impaired)
- The return e-mail address is one of the "free" services, such as hotmail.com
- The fraudster requests tickets be issued for other people
- First point of departure is outside of the U.S.
- Departure date is close to the ticket request date
- Fraudster requests e-tickets and once "issued", requests that the e-ticket number be immediately e-mailed to the
fraudster
- Fraudsters charge several tickets with different routings, travel dates, and passenger last names on the same credit
card. If one credit card is denied, the fraudsters continue providing others until one is "accepted"
- The fraudsters may use religious names and religious themes to gain credibility
- E-mail requests sometimes contain obvious spelling errors (e.g. cities and states)
- Fraudsters provide bogus addresses and phone numbers in the United States.
If you decide to issue a ticket against a non-face-to-face credit card transaction and/or issue a ticket for travel originating
outside United States, you should follow the instructions in the Industry Agents’ Handbook, Section 8, online at
www.arccorp.com. Consider, also, the following:
- For unknown clients, have a company policy of insisting on a manual credit card imprint and original cardholder
signature, along with personally verifying the cardholder’s valid identification (See Section 8 of the Industry
Agents’ Handbook, online at www.arccorp.com.)
- Contact the credit card company, ask for the fraud/security department, and have them verify with the cardholder
that such travel is authorized.
Additional information on this and other types of fraud are available on ARC’s Web site at
www.arccorp.com. (see News and Events – Security Advisories). If you would like to share
your experience or have further questions, please contact ARC Field Investigation and Fraud Prevention at
fifp@arccorp.com.
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