I have just been watching the BBC Watchdog program and they had a feature about Oxford based MAS Travel. The company was taking money for flight reservations that it was making with the airlines and not passing the payments on to the airlines concerned, thus invalidating the tickets issued. Many customers did not know they had been scammed until they arrived at the airport. With airlines turning passengers and their ‘invalid’ tickets away unless the paid up more cash to cover the cost of the flights.

It now looks like the owners of the former company have fled the country and flown to Pakistan reports the watchdog website. Thames Valley Police is investigating, and says that if you bought a ticket from MAS Travel, contact the airline to see if it’s valid. If there’s a problem, call its Economic Crime Unit on 0845 8505 505.

Although MAS Travel had an ATOL number, ATOL has made it clear to Watchdog that it was only relevant for the company’s package deals. In cases like this, where a travel agent issues tickets straight away, your contract is with the airline and ATOL protection isn’t required.

Now does this all sound a bit familiar to some people? Back in August of this year Thousands of people were scammed in a similar incident involving a number of websites set up and all ran from a call centre in Islington. Many hundreds are still fighting Credit Card companies and Banks to recoup their monies. There is an extensive post on the HW forum detailing how best to go about claiming back your ‘stolen’ money.

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