ARC has recently learned of the following fraud scenario from an ARC-accredited agency:
A woman called the travel agency saying her company processes approval codes for ARC and that a mix-up had occurred with VISA and MasterCard
approval codes. The caller alleged that the mix-up involved not only their travel agency but two other local agencies, as well, and went on to
say the mix-up had prevented ticket sales transactions from being processed properly. The caller then requested approval codes for the last
three credit card transactions using Visa and MasterCard, supposedly needed to fix the "mix-up," and then went on to request the associated credit
card numbers.
The travel agent declined to give the credit card numbers. The caller persisted, explaining they were just trying to straighten out a
situation so that the agent could get paid and, when that didn't persuade the travel agency, the caller even offered to have her "supervisor" get
on the line to talk with the agent. The travel agent asked that such a request be on letter-head and faxed to the agency.
RED FLAG:
ARC HAS NO SUCH APPROVAL CODE PROCESSOR AFFILIATION - approval codes are issued through your GDS or directly by the bank card
associations and credit card contractors.
The ARC-accredited agency did not fall for the scheme because:
- they demanded verification in writing - it never came
- they contacted ARC's Fraud Department - confirming that ARC
does not have an approval code processor affiliation
If you have received a similar call, or want to confirm the identity of an ARC employee, an ARC telephone number, a company affiliation, or just
want to authenticate a written ARC request, please contact ARC Field Investigation & Fraud Prevention at 703-816-8137 or email to
fifp@arccorp.com.
Please retain a copy this alert as well as other ARC Fraud Alerts found at
www.arccorp.com/news/news_fraud.html and
- keep it handy, post it on your message boards, bulletin boards, etc.
- share it to all your employees, outside sales staff, sub agents,
affiliates, etc.
Everyone needs this information to prevent credit card fraud.
