New Zealand, China authorities investigate airline ticket scam

Authorities in New Zealand and China are investigating claims that nearly 200 Chinese New Zealanders have lost about $600,000 in an airline ticket scam.

Around 180 people have joined a group on social media platform WeChat claiming to be victims of a travel agency based in Xingyi, Guizhou province, in southwestern China.

Carriers believed to be unknowingly caught up in the scam included Cathay Pacific Airways, China Eastern Airline and Air China.

Police in New Zealand and China have launched an investigation in the allegations.

The Chinese consulate in Auckland issued a statement Friday, encouraging those who thought they might be a victim of the scam to file a report with the police.

Auckland woman Mia Liu bought a pair of airline tickets from Guizhou Yiqifei Tourism Information Ltd through Yanjing Shen, a local agent for the company.

Shen introduced Liu to the company after telling her she had started a new job as a tourism agent.

In August, Liu bought tickets for her son and his girlfriend to return to New Zealand from Tokyo via Beijing from Shen.

She paid just over 10,000 yuan (about $2500) for the tickets, an amount that was a little cheaper than more recognisable agencies.

Guizhou Yiqifei Tourism Information sent Liu the flight itinerary the following day.

In early November, Shen told Liu to check her flights as the tickets might not have been secured.

Liu asked a relative in China to help confirm the booking but neither China Eastern nor Cathay Pacific were able to do so.

Upon contacting Shen, Liu was told she could cancel the tickets, but it would take seven to 15 working days to process a refund.

Liu has yet to receive a refund for the tickets she had paid for, and Shen was not responding to her messages.

Mi Xiang, administrator of the WeChat group of victims, also bought airline tickets from Shen, having known her for more than a decade.

In September, Xiang paid around ¥24,000 yuan (about $5900) to Guizhou Yiqifei Tourism Information for return tickets to China for her family of four.

She was also advised to check her booking in early November, with the airline confirming the tickets were fake.

"China Eastern says it doesn't have the tickets," Xiang said. "The tickets did not exist."

Xiang started the WeChat group after hearing that Liu and a couple of other acquaintances also bought tickets from Shen.

She claimed victims who had joined the WeChat group had lost more than 2.4 million yuan (about $600,000) in the ticket scam.

Auckland woman Nahong He, who claims to have lost 17,000 yuan (about $4200) paying for fake bookings, was in China helping those who had been affected to submit evidence with local police.

Chinese police told He they suspected the bookings to be a scam.

Police reports

Shen said she stopped selling airline tickets as soon as she sensed something was wrong.

She said she had filed a report with New Zealand Police on 4 November and flew back to China the next day to report the case to police in her hometown.

Some victims questioned this, claiming local police in Shen's hometown didn't have jurisdiction to investigate a case in Guizhou province.

Shen said she had also been a victim of the scam, claiming to be assisting the police investigation in China.

"I have handed over all the bank transfer records and all the chat histories to police," Shen said.

Another agent, Ella Chen, who sold nearly 20 tickets, including a few for herself and her family, repaid clients from her own pocket after learning that the bookings were problematic.

She started to work for Guizhou Yiqifei Tourism Information in September after seeing an advertisement recruiting agents in Chinese media.

Chen said the advertisement looked legit, and she also checked the company's authenticity before signing a contract with them.

Bookings through most of October largely proved to be unproblematic, but certain issues started to appear in November.

"There seemed to be two possible issues," Chen said. "[Either] the ticket was issued but later cancelled, or the ticket was never issued at all. They only created a booking reference number."

Chen first learnt of problems with bookings while she was on holiday in China.

She claimed to have reported the case in person to local police in Xingyi on 13 November.

She also visited the physical address of Guizhou Yiqifei Tourism Information after local police shared the information with her.

"I ... saw that the office was already empty with no one around," she recalled.

A couple of days later, Shen and another agent also arrived in Xingyi to report the case to police, Chen said.

Authorities investigate

A staff member at the Public Security Bureau in Xingyi said investigations were ongoing, although they refused to disclose more details.

"The relevant department is handling the case," they said. "They will contact the relevant departments when there are any results ... and will release information if necessary."

Detective senior sergeant Craig Bolton from the Auckland City Financial Crime Unit said reports of a scam involving Guizhou Yiqifei Tourism Information had been made in November.

"To date, we have collated 33 complaints from right across the Auckland region," Bolton said, noting that the unit was in its early stages of the investigation.

"In total, these victims have been scammed out of around $176,000. The Auckland City Financial Crime Unit is liaising with our police liaison officer in China via Interpol."

He believed the perpetrators of the scam were residing in China, and officers had been working through Interpol to better understand this.

"Police urge the community to be vigilant around sales or services being offered at bargain or heavily discounted rates, particularly on social media or messaging applications," he said.

"Please be extremely cautious when these sorts of services are offered. Do your research on whether the organisation is legitimate."

People who suspected they had fallen victim to the scam were encouraged to file a report with police, Bolton said.

The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand told RNZ it was watching the case closely.

"The Chinese police have launched an investigation into the relevant case," the embassy said in a statement.

"The Chinese government attaches high importance to protecting the lawful rights and interests of Chinese citizens and stands firm in combating crimes of telecom and online fraud.

"The Embassy and Consulates-General of China in New Zealand will continue to provide necessary assistance to the Chinese citizens concerned in accordance with the law."

Simon Pope, head of fair trading and product safety investigations at the Commerce Commission, warned consumers to ensure they knew who they were dealing with.

"A good way to do this is by checking independent review sites, social media and trusted resources such as Scamwatch to learn about other people's experiences before sharing personal information or making payments," Pope said.