November 17, 2010 7:46AM

FRAUDSTERS are using the lure of cheap air fares to rip off Australian travellers in a scam police say is unlike anything they've seen before.
Queensland police discovered the air-fares scam last week and say it's capable of duping even vigilant online consumers.
Victims are even sent real tickets, from real airlines, and can even ring the airline to confirm their seats.
But they've been purchased with stolen credit cards. When the airlines realise what's happened, the tickets are cancelled.

Detective Superintendent Brian Hay said the scam had an air of authenticity because victims were not immediately asked for payment.
He said consumers were lured to scam websites with the promise of cheap flights and were then asked to contact those running the site by email.

"A return email is then sent to the customer with a list of flight options,'' he said.
"What is enticing about these websites, and may even serve to alleviate the fear many people have of shopping on these sites, is that payment is not requested until the tickets arrive from the airline.

"They are, in fact, genuine tickets from a genuine airline. The customer can even ring the airline and confirm their seats.''
He said victims were left with worthless tickets when the airlines realised they'd also been had and cancelled them.
"What we see here is unlike anything we've seen before.

Two victims from one simple scam - the person's bank who owns the credit card is now out pocket $2000, as is the person buying the tickets who sent the money after receiving their tickets.''

He said the warning signal in the scam was travellers receiving tickets before payment was demanded.
The sites involved include www.cheapflightsonly.net, www.onlycheapflights.net, www.cheaper-flights.net.au and www.flisave.com.

Police have also discovered a separate site, hosted in Vietnam, that's freely offering the personal details of 1000 Australians online.
"Early inquiries have established that the credit card and personal details were from a website that was compromised in around January this year,'' Det Supt Hay said.

"The stolen credit cards were cancelled by their respective banks, however, the identity issues have not been considered.''
"We are currently in the process of contacting every single person on this list to advise them to regularly monitor their credit status and to be especially wary when receiving phone calls and emails.''

Det Supt Hay said anyone who has had their credit card compromised should take steps to guard themselves against identity theft, including considering having their credit rating monitored and looking for anomalies in their financial accounts.
The Vietnam-hosted site has been taken down.