International airline fraud arrests total 118

At least 118 arrests have been made in connection with a global investigation aimed at ending the fraudulent purchase of airline tickets. Arrests came via the Global Airport Action, an alliance formed by centers at Europol in The Hague, Interpol in Singapore and Ameripol in Bogota. Several of those arrested were in the Netherlands. The two-day sweep took place at over 80 airports across the world, including Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, On November 26 and 27. Millions of citizens have been adversely affected by criminals stealing their credit card information, Europol said in a press statement. The banking, airline and travel sectors have suffered huge financial losses, the airline industries alone facing losses of over a billion dollars. In many cases it has been discovered that online credit card fraud is linked to other forms of serious crimes like human and drug trafficking, the agency said. A breakdown including specific details about the criminal charges and the precise number of arrests made per country was not released.