Airline Ticket Fraud Ring Dismantled

Thirty eight suspects have been indicted for their role in a fraud operation that involved selling underpriced airline tickets acquired using stolen identities. The scam affected thousands of individuals and led to losses of over $20 million.

“What began as a local law enforcement investigation ultimately exposed an extensive nationwide black market for airline tickets. Six federal indictments allege that 38 defendants used stolen credit and debit card information from thousands of identity theft victims to purchase tickets, which they sold to their customers at a steep discount. These separate criminal conspiracies resulted in an estimated total loss of more than $20 million to numerous domestic airline companies, financial institutions, other merchants and cardholders” the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Beth Phillips, announced.

According to the authorities, the fraud ring purchased stolen financial information from hackers in Asian countries like Bangladesh or Vietnam. Some members stole credit card details themselves from hotels or their work places, which included a bank and a call center.

Other defendants activated as travel agents on the black market selling seriously underpriced airline tickets that were being purchased using the stolen information. The ticket reservations were being made close to a plane's departure in order to avoid the transactions being flagged as fraud in time to revoke them.

Additional co-conspirators played the role of brokers who directed customers to the rogue travel agents in exchange for a share of the profit. The tickets were being sold for prices from $75 to $250 and many of the customers knew of their illegal origin.

The authorities discovered the fraud network after catching two thieves who stole a Dell laptop from a home in Overland Park, Kansas. When arrested, police officers discovered numerous credit card numbers in their possession and later found out that one of the credit cards had been misused to buy airline tickets online.

The victims of the entire operation are spread across Missouri, Kansas, as well as 26 other states and Canada. The scheme caused losses to twelve domestic airline companies, that assisted the investigation with valuable information about fraudulent ticket purchases.

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