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Understanding the depth of fraud risks for OTA’s

Workshop 1: Current State of Fraud

A team of fraud analysts were assembled to identify different opportunities within the travel space portfolio to use Innovation Strategy coupled with an internal product offering for fraud detection and technology solutions.

With this project, we wanted to understand the current Journey Map landscape and the risks to the Online Travel Agencies (OTA) and create a future plan to reduce fraud for current and future products.

Goals & Outcomes

  • Determine how effective our internal software is in current state for travel fraud.
  • Identify the scope of fraudulent activities including the revenue impact to customers.
  • Used 4 Anti-Personas to better understand the ‘bad actors’ our OTA’s face.
  • Discovered 25 Fraudpoints that affect OTA’s at different stages in a retailing travel journey.

Workshop Participants

  • Director Data Analytics
  • Sr Cyber Security Analyst
  • Sr Mngr Software Eng
  • Lead Data Analytics
  • Director Segment Strategy
  • Principal Software Eng
  • Cyber Security Analyst
  • Principal UX Research
  • Dir Design Strategy
  • Sr Business Analyst
  • Principal Tech Prod Mngr

Anti-Personas

An anti-persona is a representation of a user group that could misuse a product in ways that negatively impact target users and the business. Product misuse may threaten regular users’ safety, security, confidence, loyalty, and retention. Anti-personas can help reduce these risks. 

We used these Fraudster personas to help us uncover the challenges in the current and future state of travel for Sabre.

Click on the image above to view the Anti-Persona overview video

Research: By the Numbers

  • $283-$588 Average stolen per fraud transaction
  • 8%-24% Legitimate bookings rejected for fear of fraud
  • $2.4b-$4.8b Airlines lose billions per year

90-minute Workshop Activities

  • Research Review
  • Mural board activities
  • Persona Review & Validation

Immediate Next Steps

  • Review Report : Take some time to review this report and reflect on findings.
  • Update the High-Level Timeline : After talking with your team, update the timeline for each big idea chosen. Confirm the backlog with development.
  • Review the new Anti-Personas : These personas begin to explore the fraud challenges in our current state. Our Travel Product is driving to retail more of the travel experience so this could make this a blind spot to be explored with urgency.
  • Schedule Big Ideas and Backlog Implementation : Create a calendar and deadlines for implementation of ideas. Keep highly rated but not chosen ideas on radar for further exploration.
Next Workshop

Request an interview to view the report. I’m happy to talk about this project with you!

Workshop 2: Future State of Fraud

Immediate Product Goals

Our fraud group needs to improve their current internal product. Plus, we need to evaluate the business processes and handoffs between teams.

Long-term Goals

We also need to examine long-term applications for our OTA’s. Plus, find an executive sponsor and launch partner.  

Workshop Participants

  • Director Data Analytics
  • Sr Cyber Security Analyst
  • Sr Mngr Software Eng
  • Lead Data Analytics
  • Director Segment Strategy
  • Principal Software Eng
  • Cyber Security Analyst
  • Principal UX Research
  • Dir Design Strategy
  • Sr Business Analyst
  • Principal Tech Prod Mngr

Frauds Uncovered

  • Account Takeover
  • Fake OTA Site
  • Fake Hotel Site
  • Fake/Stolen Credit Card
  • Phishing Emails
  • Cancellation & Flight Credits
  • Bogus Travel Agents
  • Fake Wifi Set-up
  • Vacation Clubs
  • Vacation Certificates
  • Bait & Switch Hotels
  • Chargeback Abuse
  • Third Party Booking Scams
  • Same Day booking abuse
  • Social Media / Acct Takeover
  • Credentials harvest thru imposter site
  • Former system user exploiting knowledge
  • Rogue AI – gathering data

Workshop: by the Numbers

  • 03 Exercises explored
  • 21 Solutions created
  • 01 Timeline built together
  • 06 Recommendations suggested

90-Minute workshop activities

  • Journey Map Solutioning for Fraudpoints
  • Prioritization grid for solutions
  • High-level timeline and prioritization of those ideas

Immediate Next Steps

  • Review Report : Take some time to review this report and reflect on findings.
  • Review the upcoming Labs Report : The Fraud Team is working with Labs Dev to determine how much work to apply as well as the expected gain from these improvements.
  • The Security review is coming : Our stakeholders are working with Security to confirm viable partner options.
  • More research is needed : Review fraud in conjunction with other booking engine products. Repeat or review output from first two DS workshops.
  • More exploration is needed : Travel Fraud is an evolving area. More workshops are needed, like the Value Proposition Canvas with customers and Business Model Canvas, to determine the direction that our company should be thinking in this area.