The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

A FRAUDULENT credit card scheme involving ticket purchases at Bahamasair is under investigation by the Business Technology Crimes Division of the Central Detective Unit.

According to Assistant Superintendent Deborah Thompson attached to the division, police are currently looking for two persons of interest after more than 20 people fell victim to the fraudulent scheme. She said the incidents have taken place over the last three months. She said the number of victims was expected to increase as the investigation continued.

Bahamasair’s chairman Tommy Turnquest confirmed the matter was being looked into by officials, but said he would not go into its details so as not to compromise the probe.

Later in a statement, Tracy Cooper, managing director of Bahamasair, said a number of credit card ticket purchases that did not follow the established protocols for card transactions were uncovered during an internal investigation.

As a result of the findings, she said, some employees were “released,” adding that it was an open investigation.

Speaking to The Tribune, ASP Thompson: said: “We are investigating along with Bahamasair a number of incidents where fraudulent credit cards were used to purchase airline tickets on Bahamasair and so we have had one or two persons in custody with respect to that and we are still conducting an investigation into it.

“Our advice to members of the public is not to purchase tickets from unauthorised agents of Bahamasair.”

She continued: “The intelligence that we are getting is that persons were approached or directed to individuals on the street who are purportedly selling these tickets at a very reduced rate.

“And so, we want to advise the public against that. That all tickets purchased you should know the source or the method of payment used to purchase the ticket because they will be held liable.”

ASP Thompson said Bahamasair’s website remains safe, adding only authorised channels for ticket purchases should be used.

This is not the first time the airline has found itself at the centre or a fraudulent scheme.

In 2016, the national airline released a statement advising the public that passengers travelling on tickets purchased outside of its approved sales channels would be denied travel after officials discovered and thwarted a scam which offered “deeply discounted” airline tickets to clients purchasing flights through a third-party source.

This incident was noticed after an illegitimate credit card was flagged after several transactions resulted in travel logs being reserved without payment procedures being completed.

At the time, the airline’s then-managing director Henry Woods said the issue was discovered through a fraud detection mechanism layered into the company’s purchasing system.

Travellers who purchased tickets through the faulty source, turning up on the date of travel, encountered reserved seating but incomplete transactions, which ultimately ended with cancelled flight plans.

In another incident in 2009, a Nigerian man living in Thailand was said to be behind a $400,000 credit card scam at Bahamasair through which many people were swindled out of money.

Police alleged at the time the scam spanned international boundaries.

Once the money was sent, the Nigerian used a stolen credit card and logged onto Bahamasair’s website to purchase a ticket and e-mail a confirmation number and flight itinerary back to the Bahamian purchaser.

These individuals would go to the airline; some of them travelled one leg of their journey and then found out they could not return, it was reported.

The legitimate cardholders checked their credit card bill and realised they didn’t purchase the trips so they contacted card companies to have the charges reversed, leaving Bahamasair at a loss.

It was said that Air Jamaica had also suffered a loss because of this situation.