BRUSSELS – Belgian police have intercepted a British citizen accused of defrauding Virgin Express airlines through its internet booking system, it was reported on Monday.

The suspect, known only by the name of David and currently resident in Italy, was caught in Brussels’ Zaventem airport with a false passport, La Derniere Heure newspaper said.

He was initially arrested on suspicion of using tickets he had not paid for.

But after questioning, it emerged he had obtained tickets from Virgin’s website by using a false credit card number.

He took advantage of a loophole where the computer system did initial checks to verify it was an actual credit card number before Virgin did a second check.

The defendant used existing credit card numbers to purchase the tickets, avoiding an automatic barrier that stops fraudsters using random number configurations.

David was only intercepted at the second credit card check by the Virgin Express company itself.

He was caught at Zaventem in the process of using the fraudulent ticket and is now in the custody of the Brussels public prosecutor.

Virgin Express has reported around 40 similar fraud cases.

[Copyright Expatica 2004]

Subject: Belgian News