The International Police Organisation, INTERPOL
said on Tuesday that 140 individuals had been
nabbed globally for using fake and stolen credit
cards to purchase airplane tickets. It said that an
international law enforcement operation targeting
the purchase of airplane tickets using stolen or
fake payment card details had resulted in the
detention of the 140 individuals.

The INTERPOL said in a statement that a two-day
Airport Action Days operation was jointly
coordinated by INTERPOL, Europol and Ameripol,
with support from law enforcement authorities in
Canada and the U.S. INTERPOL said it coordinated
the operational activities across the Asia-Pacific
and Middle East regions from its command post
located at the INTERPOL Global Complex for
Innovation (IGCI) in Singapore.

``Staffed by officers from the Anti-Corruption and
Financial Crimes and Global Outreach and Regional
Support units, as well as the Command and
Coordination Centre. ``Other command posts were
set up by Europol in the Netherlands, Ameripol in
Colombia and by Canadian and American law
enforcement authorities, and support was also
offered by Frontex and Eurojust.

``During the operation, 252 suspicious transactions
were reported worldwide, which led to 140
individuals being detained, denied boarding and
questioned by police,’’ it said. It said that the
individuals, who were detained during the
operation, were also found to be involved in other
forms of crimes, including human trafficking, drug
trafficking, cybercrime and terrorism.

“This type of fraud not only targets innocent
consumers by stealing their payment card details,
it also poses significant risks to global security by
allowing criminals and terrorists to travel under the
radar. “Only through coordinated interventions
such as the Airport Action Days can track down
the organised criminal networks behind this large-
scale fraud. ``Also detaining the criminals involved
before they have the chance to commit other
crimes is important,” the INTERPOL Secretary
General, Jürgen Stock said.

INTERPOL said that representatives from airlines,
online travel agencies and payment card
companies worked together with law enforcement
to identify suspicious airline ticket purchases and
send the information to law enforcement officers
deployed at the participating airports. Payment
card issuers, the International Air Transport
Association (IATA) and Perseus, the global travel
industry’s fraud review structure, supported the
operation by providing additional information to
confirm suspicious transactions.

“With thousands of airline bookings made online
daily, it is by such coordinated, targeted and
intensive checks being carried out simultaneously
that the potential fraudulent use of credit cards can
be detected. ``That is the only way the fraudsters
can be arrested,’’ Rob Wainwright, Director of
Europol, said. In addition to coordinating the
information exchange and investigations across
Asia and the Middle East, INTERPOL conducted
checks against its criminal databases, including its
nominal and Stolen and Lost Travel Documents
(SLTD) databases.

James Anderson, Head of INTERPOL’s Anti-
Corruption and Financial Crimes unit highlighted
the importance of collaboration between law
enforcement and private industry partners in
detecting fraudulent airline ticket purchases. The
statement said that some 74 airlines and 43
countries were involved in this year’s action, which
took place at more than 130 airports across the
world.

INTERPOL coordinated the operational activity of 16
airlines and police in nine countries located at 12
airports in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East
regions. It said that the operation was timed to
coincide with the Euro 2016 football tournament. It
said that was one of the reasons why particular
attention was paid to passengers travelling to the
host country, France, with checks conducted at
local airports and in departure countries.

Source www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/police-arrest-140-people-using-stolen-cards-purchase-airplane-tickets/

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