One hundred ninety-three individuals suspected of traveling with airline tickets bought using stolen, compromised or fake credit card details have been detained in a major international law enforcement operation targeting airline fraudsters. Forty-three countries, 75 airlines and eight online travel agencies were involved in this global operation, which took place at 189 airports across the world in mid-October.
The airline industry is estimated to lose more than $1 billion per year as a result of the fraudulent online purchases of flight tickets. Fraudulent online transactions are highly lucrative for organized crime and are often purchased to facilitate more serious criminal activities including illegal immigration, human trafficking, drug smuggling and terrorism.