An agent who called on others to report a potentially bogus client to Action Fraud says he’s disappointed the crime reporting body will not pursue the case.
Lee Harrison, owner of Malvern World Travel in Worcestershire was one of several agents contacted by a client called Orville trying to book a last-minute holiday to Dubai.
The client’s enquiry raised a number of red flags with Lee, and other agents posting in Travel Gossip’s Facebook group said they’d also been contacted by ‘Orville’ and were equally suspicious.
One said they’d refused to accept his booking because he wanted to pay by credit card and refused a bank transfer, another was suspicious when ‘Orville’ accepted an inflated price but didn’t check any of the details.
Lee reported ‘Orville’ to Action Fraud, the crime reporting body for England and Wales, which passes cases on to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) to investigate.
However, he received an email stating that after reviewing the information provided, the NFIB had decided not to investigate.
The email said: “On this occasion, based on the information currently available, it has not been possible to identify a line of enquiry which a law enforcement organisation in the United Kingdom could pursue.
“Registered users of our service have the opportunity to update their report, so if you have additional information about your crime which you believe could change the assessment, please log in to your account and submit that information. We continuously assess the content of individual and linked crime reports; in the event that a line of enquiry is identified we will provide you with an update.”
Lee told Travel Gossip he was ‘very disappointed’ NFIB had decided not to pursue the matter, adding: “Luckily we were savvy enough not to book this gentleman, however agents still need to be aware to take every precaution.”
Precautions taken by his agency, part of Worldchoice, include checking a client’s passport when they’re making very late bookings, and taking a photocopy of both the front and back of the payment card, plus asking to see a copy of their driver’s licence.
“The driver’s licence as a form of identification also has that person’s address and postcode on the card. If all matches it should be a secure booking, however if not then it’s better to not take any risks,” added Lee.
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Lee Harrison, owner of Malvern World Travel in Worcestershire was one of several agents contacted by a client called Orville trying to book a last-minute holiday to Dubai.
The client’s enquiry raised a number of red flags with Lee, and other agents posting in Travel Gossip’s Facebook group said they’d also been contacted by ‘Orville’ and were equally suspicious.
One said they’d refused to accept his booking because he wanted to pay by credit card and refused a bank transfer, another was suspicious when ‘Orville’ accepted an inflated price but didn’t check any of the details.
Lee reported ‘Orville’ to Action Fraud, the crime reporting body for England and Wales, which passes cases on to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) to investigate.
However, he received an email stating that after reviewing the information provided, the NFIB had decided not to investigate.
The email said: “On this occasion, based on the information currently available, it has not been possible to identify a line of enquiry which a law enforcement organisation in the United Kingdom could pursue.
“Registered users of our service have the opportunity to update their report, so if you have additional information about your crime which you believe could change the assessment, please log in to your account and submit that information. We continuously assess the content of individual and linked crime reports; in the event that a line of enquiry is identified we will provide you with an update.”
Lee told Travel Gossip he was ‘very disappointed’ NFIB had decided not to pursue the matter, adding: “Luckily we were savvy enough not to book this gentleman, however agents still need to be aware to take every precaution.”
Precautions taken by his agency, part of Worldchoice, include checking a client’s passport when they’re making very late bookings, and taking a photocopy of both the front and back of the payment card, plus asking to see a copy of their driver’s licence.
“The driver’s licence as a form of identification also has that person’s address and postcode on the card. If all matches it should be a secure booking, however if not then it’s better to not take any risks,” added Lee.
The post Agent expresses disappointment after crime agency opts not to investigate ‘Orville’ appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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