Fraud is rapidly increasing in the travel industry and the chance you may land on a fake airline or travel agent website is unfortunately real.
Fraudulent online travel and flight booking agencies operate internationally. These websites can look highly professional, some even displaying the IATA logo to appear legitimate. We do all we can to try and stop fraud, but you have to know that an IATA reference on a travel or cargo website or social media page does not necessarily mean that they are IATA-accredited.
Because this is a growing concern, we suggest using only verified agencies.
Find out below how to verify the validity of real IATA's accredited agents and member airlines.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to identify fake travel websites?
IATA grants accreditation to travel and cargo agents in order for them to sell tickets on behalf of airlines. The accreditation process is demanding and is renewed each year. The IATA-accredited agents' community can be considered a worldwide network of reliably certified and recognized agents.
IATA-accredited agencies have a unique code, which is the best way to verify their legitimacy. Agencies will provide their IATA code if asked. And you can verify whether they are valid through this code checking tool.
And if you want to know if an airline is an IATA member, see the list of current members.
DID YOU KNOW?
Approximately 90% of all emails sent worldwide are spam, spoof and phishing attempts.
Payment fraud costs the air transport industry an estimated US $858 million annually, approximately US $639 million of which is borne by airlines and the remainder by other companies in the travel industry.
