Banks and airlines on guard against credit card cheats

Banks and airlines on guard against credit card cheats

2007-02-09 20:24:13 Source : Moneycontrol.com

Banks and airlines are looking to curb credit-card cheats. After the Kingfisher Airlines' online booking fraud, banks have revamped vending machines and airlines are staying away from international credit cards for online bookings, reports CNBC-TV18.

 

Cheating the airlines is going to get tougher. In an attempt to control online ticketing fraud, banks are overhauling credit-card swiping machines. A transaction slip generated will print only a few digits of your card number instead of all the information on your card. This will make it difficult for frauds to memorise the 16-digit card number required to book e-tickets. Banks expect to complete the process by March.

 

Kingfisher Airlines lost Rs 13 crore on e-tickets booked, using stolen credit card details. The Mumbai police has arrested 9 people and sources say they might be part of a nation-wide gang of 40.

 

 We hear international credit-card details were compromised with less than 3 percent being Indian. Industry sources believe databases containing critical credit-card information might have been leaked from abroad.

 

Many airlines now don't accept international credit cards to book e-tickets. But industry sources say such a practice might hurt business. Airlines like Air Deccan now use a credit-card masking system, in which credit card payments for telebookings are done by punching in requisite details on the phone so that there's no human interface. Cheats might now have to come up with something new.