An online flight ticket scammer who stole money from at least one victim has been given a 48-week suspended prison sentence following a prosecution by Dudley Trading Standards.
Muhammed Awais Raja from Shipley, West Yorkshire, was involved in a bogus ticket company operating on Facebook as ‘Sunshine Travels’. In 2020 a consumer from Dudley saw an advert for flights offered by ‘Sunshine Travels’ and purchased five return tickets from Birmingham to Pakistan for £1,197, transferring the money into an account he believed to be legitimate.
Upon subsequently attempting to contact the company and receiving no response he became suspicious, and contacted the airline directly. He then discovered that the e-ticket numbers quoted had in fact been issued in other passengers’ names.
He contacted Dudley Trading Standards, who found that the money had been transferred into Raja’s personal account. Raja claimed to have no connection with ‘Sunshine Travels’ and denied any knowledge of the matter. He even claimed that the personal account in his name was opened fraudulently by an unknown person.
Dudley Trading Standards also identified further victims of the scam, one of whom became a witness in the investigation.
At Dudley Magistrates Court on 17 July Raja pleaded guilty to two theft charges and one charge of money laundering.
Raja was sentenced to 48 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and 150 hours of community service. He was also placed on a curfew for three months and ordered to pay £2,287 in compensation, plus a £156 victim surcharge and £3,000 in costs.
Councillor James Clinton, cabinet member for public health at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “We do not tolerate scammers in this borough and our Trading Standards team will actively pursue complaints of this nature wherever possible. It doesn’t matter where the criminal is based, in this case Yorkshire. If one of our residents is affected, we will look to take action.
“Not only do these scams impact the lives of our residents, but legitimate businesses can also suffer by association. The service is here to protect innocent customers and businesses.”
