The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance alerted the global travel agency community to a sophisticated fraud scheme on 2 March 2026.
Fraudsters used unauthorised agency IATA accreditation numbers to gain NDC access and issue fraudulent tickets across multiple markets.
Incidents involved spoofed email domains resembling legitimate agencies to request NDC onboarding.
Once access occurred, tickets issued at volume with stolen credit cards, leading to chargebacks and financial damage.
WTAAA urged agencies to review NDC registrations, monitor activity, watch for domain spoofing, and report suspicious incidents promptly.
Otto de Vries shared “This is a timely reminder that as our industry embraces new distribution technology, our security practices need to keep pace. The agencies affected in these cases did nothing wrong; their credentials were used without their knowledge. We are urging all agencies to take a few straightforward steps to protect themselves, and we are calling on airline and technology partners to strengthen their verification processes at the point of NDC onboarding.” Otto de Vries
Otto de Vries shared “WTAAA exists to give travel agents a unified global voice, and that is exactly what we intend to use here. We will be working with our partners across the industry to ensure that the right safeguards are put in place, not just for the agencies affected today, but for every agency operating in an increasingly digital distribution environment.”
