Findings released by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and eNett International have revealed that accommodation bookings are one of the most prevalent types of fraud in the travel industry, accounting for over US$21bn (€17.5bn) in worldwide financial losses each year.

In many cases, the fraud reported to ABTA was related to fake hotels. In a number of cases, it was identified that a fraudster had set up a fake hotel and then used stolen credit cards to make a booking via an online travel agent (OTA). The OTA had then received chargebacks for bookings after having made a payment to a fake hotel. At this point, the fraudster had withdrawn the funds and disappeared with the money.

Tourism Update has previously reported on a number of instances in which fraudulent cyber piracy and booking scams have been exposed.

eNett suggests some basic methods to combat fraud. This can be as simple as educating employees to recognise the warning signs of potentially fraudulent customers. Or it might be ensuring that your company’s payment solutions are up to date and offer protection and recovery mechanisms.

In a column published in Tourism Update last year, experienced tour operator Onne Vegter suggests the following methods to combat fraud in the African travel industry:

• Register all potential domain names related to your company. This could go a long way to prevent scammers imitating you online.
• Create a website that is difficult to copy. Consider using frames, watermarks, html encryption, registrations with usernames and passwords.
• Keep track of search engines. Search your own company occasionally to monitor search engine responses.
• Maintain strong relationships with other players in the industry. Work closely with OTAs, hotels and tour operators to foster good relations between you.