Advantage members will be encouraged to join an intelligence system where they can report fraud incidents this summer.
The name of the system, launched by Prevention of Fraud in Travel (PROFIT), has deliberately not been revealed so it can’t be accessed by hackers.
Members will be able to share information about how they were scammed anonymously through the platform to understand how to fight fraud.
Details about the system were announced during a workshop at the consortium’s conference in Benidorm on Monday (22 May) as PROFIT Chairman Barry Gooch said getting the police to investigate reports of fraud was currently ‘a postcode lottery’ due to a lack of fraud detectives in some forces.
He said there are 800 fraud detectives across 43 police forces in the UK and some forces don’t have any in their ranks.
Last year, 24,805 reports of fraud led to just 219 court cases.
Advantage Chief Operating Officer Paul Nunn said members would start being added to the system in the summer.
“The idea is to get as many members as we can to sign up,” he said. “The system has been signed off by the police so that we can proactively fight fraud.
“We’re doing what we can to mitigate against fraud in travel. If members see any odd bookings or behaviours, then they can go into the system and report it.”
Barry said ‘hundreds’ of companies were part of the system, including other consortia.
“Smaller organisations tend to be more of a target for fraudsters,” he said. “The assumption is they’re not very diligent and you’re more vulnerable if you’re a small company.”
Figures released this week by Action Fraud reveal more than £15 million was lost to holiday fraud in the past year.
Read more coverage from the Advantage conference:
Advantage boss reveals Government official’s surprise that travel agents still existed
Advantage to expand team to support new members
Advantage members gain new clients but worry about staffing levels
Advantage offers members new website packages
The post Advantage members to join reporting system to fight fraud appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
The name of the system, launched by Prevention of Fraud in Travel (PROFIT), has deliberately not been revealed so it can’t be accessed by hackers.
Members will be able to share information about how they were scammed anonymously through the platform to understand how to fight fraud.
Details about the system were announced during a workshop at the consortium’s conference in Benidorm on Monday (22 May) as PROFIT Chairman Barry Gooch said getting the police to investigate reports of fraud was currently ‘a postcode lottery’ due to a lack of fraud detectives in some forces.
He said there are 800 fraud detectives across 43 police forces in the UK and some forces don’t have any in their ranks.
Last year, 24,805 reports of fraud led to just 219 court cases.
Advantage Chief Operating Officer Paul Nunn said members would start being added to the system in the summer.
“The idea is to get as many members as we can to sign up,” he said. “The system has been signed off by the police so that we can proactively fight fraud.
“We’re doing what we can to mitigate against fraud in travel. If members see any odd bookings or behaviours, then they can go into the system and report it.”
Barry said ‘hundreds’ of companies were part of the system, including other consortia.
“Smaller organisations tend to be more of a target for fraudsters,” he said. “The assumption is they’re not very diligent and you’re more vulnerable if you’re a small company.”
Figures released this week by Action Fraud reveal more than £15 million was lost to holiday fraud in the past year.
Read more coverage from the Advantage conference:
Advantage boss reveals Government official’s surprise that travel agents still existed
Advantage to expand team to support new members
Advantage members gain new clients but worry about staffing levels
Advantage offers members new website packages
The post Advantage members to join reporting system to fight fraud appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
