Reshaping the Travel Industry with NFC Verification – How Shufti Can Help

With emerging technologies and the increasing use of digital services, the travel industry has become the prime target of criminals. Neither consumers nor travel businesses are safe from fraudulent activities, and scammers are using advanced techniques to exploit loopholes in the system. There are multiple types of fraud associated with the travel industry, including visa scams, payment fraud, holiday rental scams, and many others. Criminals convince common people to buy different attractive packages of foreign tours which ends up nothing other than fraudulent schemes.

In the US alone, FTC received 2.8 million fraud reports costing users $5.8 billion in 2021. Unlike the banks and insurance companies, the travel industry lacks strict regulations which have encouraged criminals to abuse the system through various fraudulent techniques. Travel and tourism is an ever-booming industry that requires stringent solutions to counter criminals to make it a secure platform for sophisticated users. Near-Field Communication (NFC) is an advanced technology that can not only secure the travel industry but also mitigate the risks of financial losses.

Prevailing Crimes in Travel Industry

Rapid digitization has altogether changed the concept of the travel industry, and it is the time when people book their trips and hotels online while getting different attractive packages for their holidays. While performing any online booking, users have to input their personal details which makes them vulnerable to identity theft and other financial crimes. The scammers use advanced techniques, including cross-travel schemes, fake advertisement calls, fake insurance plans for traveling, and holiday rental scams to defraud sophisticated users. Due to the weak identity verification structure in the travel sector, they get successful in compromising users’ confidential information, which further leads to several crimes, particularly account takeovers, money laundering, and fake bank account openings.

Due to rising crime, it has become quite crucial for stakeholders of the travel industry to implement a robust identity verification system that can counter criminals and identify suspicious activities. Prevailing crimes in the travel sector are not only costing users financial losses but also threatening the overall business. Criminals use forged and fake identity records to onboard the system and get involved in a variety of crimes.

Travel Industry Fraud – Case Study

The travel industry is a global sector and has immense importance for businesses, but the rising crimes here are a huge threat to the overall system. All the major jurisdictions are working tirelessly to eradicate the chances of travel scams, and several cases have surfaced in the recent past where criminals were arrested and trialed in court for their involvement in crimes related to traveling or tourism.

Gang of 13 Convicted for ATOL Fraud in the UK

A gang of 13 criminals in the UK have been convicted for their involvement in booking the fictitious holiday package to Mauritius. It was found during the investigation that criminals were using fake calls and emails to convince users to buy their holiday packages while offering attractive discounts and deals. Police arrested the criminals when the victims registered several claims for reimbursements through Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL) scheme. The court has convicted all the gang members and their penalties are yet to be decided.

38 Criminals Indicted in $20 Milion Travel Fraud in the US

US law enforcement authorities have arrested a gang of 38 criminals who were involved in a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme using stolen identities. They were buying and selling fake airline tickets to customers, and initial investigations have found losses of at least $20 million. All the culprits have been presented in the court, where further investigations are going on to get more information about the case.

How is COVID-19 Changing Facets of Global Travel

The travel industry is one of the worst-hit sectors by COVID-19 facing millions and billions of dollars in financial losses. The pandemic has forced users to use digital services instead, which has also encouraged criminals to exploit loopholes and steal the identity of sophisticated users. This is the primary reason that cybercrime cases in every department have risen during and after the pandemic. Moreover, all the countries put restrictions on vaccination cards for traveling, which helped criminals get involved in making fake documents. Throughout the pandemic, the scammers kept on selling vaccination certificates which affected the health department and their efforts to curb coronavirus.

Implications of NFC Verification in the Travel Industry

NFC is the most sophisticated and advanced technology which extracts data from biometric identity documents and validates it. The data from the biometric chip is further compared with the users’ live selfie; if matched, it grants access to the user. NFC verification is an ideal solution for the travel industry as it will help businesses to implement a system where all those trying to onboard the system with fake identities will be removed. It will not only help the travel companies to ensure compliance with global standards of identity verification but also let the other users have safe onboarding and carry out financial transactions. The travel industry is crucial for any economy, and it is in their interest to implement an NFC-based verification system to counter cyber criminals.

Ensuring Compliance in Travel Industry Through NFC Verification

It is estimated that fraud in the travel industry costs $21 billion every year which has raised the need for an effective verification system. Having a look at different fraudulent techniques, it becomes evident that criminals exploit the system using stolen identities and onboard the platforms through illicit facial recognition and thumb impressions. NFC is the ultimate solution to all these issues as it has all the capacities to verify the customers in real-time and compare their details with the ones stored in NFC chips.

Currently, the majority of mobile companies are providing built-in NFC services which make it pretty easy for travel companies to implement this type of verification. The overall process is quite convenient and takes a few seconds to complete ensuring compliance for all types of businesses. By implementing a verification system based on NFC technology, travel business owners will not have to look for any solution as it is a complete package of all types of identifications.

What Shufti Offers?

The travel industry is the most crucial sector for any country, which builds connections between different jurisdictions across the globe. Combating identity theft and other financial crimes is critical for travel agencies to ensure transparency for their users. The whole commuting sector is here to stay, and it is the right time for companies to invest in its security.

Shufti’s state-of-the-art NFC verification services are the most viable option for travel companies which will help them to stay compliant with global standards while securing their users from financial losses. Powered by thousands of AI algorithms, Shufti’s NFC verification solution authenticates the legitimacy of documents in less than a second with 98.67% accuracy.

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