How Travel Agents Can Avoid Becoming a Victim of Fraud
byKerry Tice/
Fraudsters target travel agents every day, and a seminar recently held at Travel MarketPlace East in Toronto led by the Airlines Reporting Corp.’s (ARC) Manager of Risk Management Doug Nass, shined a light on the tools and safeguards available to protect and prevent some of the most common attempts at fraud.
纳斯说:“停止欺诈行为是不现实的。”“但是我们能做的就是尝试尽早发现它,并使这些损失尽可能最小。”
According to Nass, many times there are cases of fraud that could have been avoided simply by checking basic data. Knowing your customer is key to not becoming a victim, but in cases of uncertainty, here is a checklist of ways to combat fraud:
-Avoid foreign credit cards.Use a bin checker to verify which bank issued the credit card (enter the first 6 digits) atwww.binlist.net.
-家庭地址。询问客户的家庭住址,然后在Google Maps上查找它,以查看它是否与您被告知的内容相对应。即使存在地址,也要进一步走一步,问他们前门是什么颜色?www.google.ca/maps和www.google.us/maps
-Telephone.Ask the client to provide you with a telephone number to use for contact purposes. Then do a reverse lookup to verify if the addresses match usingwww.whitepages.com和www.canada411.ca.
-Social media.查看客户的社交媒体,看看他们的个人资料在Facebook.com,加拿大People Finder和LinkedIn等网站上是否看起来“正常”。
-People search engine.www.pipl.comis one of the sites you can use to find someone who might seem like they pose a risk.
-确认。Verify cardholder name, address, telephone number and/or email address on the account. Visa (800) 847-2911, under merchant option choose 2 for “all other inquiries.”; Mastercard (800) 247-4623, you will need to enter the credit card number; Amex (800) 528-2121, you will need to enter the credit card number.
Prevention is your best defense
除此清单外,纳斯说,还有其他迹象表明旅行社需要注意以避免欺诈实例。对于一个人来说,与您预订的新客户少于6到12个月可能代表风险,因此,审查每个预订的情况很重要,尤其是当心使用的信用卡的更改。
最后一分钟的旅行也应该引起眉毛,因为任何人在72小时内旅行的欺诈概率都高得多,前往高风险国际目的地(即非洲)或从海外地点旅行的人也是如此。beplay银行卡纳斯说,最好仅处理已久经考验的客户的预订。
可疑的名字应该升起旗帜,因此,如果旅行者的名字与持卡人的名字截然不同,请特别小心。另外,护照名称是否与旅行者完全匹配?请务必查找篡改和检查信用卡副本和签名的证据。纳斯告诉出席旅行社,有些欺诈者会省略签名,因此,如果通过电子邮件收到图像,请务必将图像扩大到仔细检查。
And speaking of email, be wary of free email services and mindful of company emails, as sometimes fraudsters try to latch onto existing corporate accounts posing as executives and throwing around names of lower-level employees they got by calling a general line. Nass advises usingwww.whois.com检查任何电子邮件的域名。
Acta&Arc代理商倡导者
加拿大旅行社协会(ACTA)最近完成了对其成员的欺诈调查,其中500人做出了回应。虽然只有8%的受访者表示他们实际上经历了欺诈行为,但有97%的人说他们认识一个人。
In their efforts towards fraud prevention, ACTA said they are trying to develop steps or a manual that will help travel agents combat fraud. Among the most interesting findings of the survey was that most agencies do not have automated tools to track fraud. However, 63 percent said they have some type of training in place at their agency to prevent fraud, including 80 percent who said they have actual rules that employees must follow.
ACTA plans to do a follow-up survey this fall to see if its efforts, thus far, are improving the results of the association’s action against fraud. “What we are trying to do is improve the communication about fraud to your head offices, consortia and the ACTA membership,” said Doreen Lynch, director of ACTA membership. “Ultimately, if we can improve the transaction process so we don’t have to have a manual process, we can counter the fraud.”
ARC has designated September “Fraud Month” and Nass said the organization will be aggressively promoting webinars that it will host 3-5 times a week on fraud, covering agencies of all sizes who transact all types of business. “We are really trying to emphasize the fact that this is an important topic and there are people who can help.”