With travel scams on the rise this summer, the FBI is now looking into a Chicago-based travel agency after a local news station launched an investigation following hundreds of accusations of travelers being left stranded and out thousands of dollars.
The U.S. intelligence and security service believes that “FlyGirl World Travel” worked to defraud customers by collecting payment, canceling their reservations and failing to issue refunds.
This comes after the ABC7 I-Team received complaints from travelers all over the U.S. who allege the company’s owner, Laticha Douglas, accepted payment for vacations but never made reservations for those clients.
Katherine Jones-Young told the ABC7 I-Team her group of family and friends spent thousands on a birthday celebration trip to Aruba only to learn they didn’t have reservations upon arrival at their resort.
“They then tell us, ‘You have no reservation with us. There was no payment. Your reservations were canceled seven days ago due to non-payment.'”
“That’s when I realized, she’s taken our money,” added Jones-Young after being unable to reach Douglas and learning her website had been taken down. “She’s not going to respond to us, and we have nowhere to stay.”
Douglas contacted affected travelers in a recent letter, claiming that her agency had closed due to “financial mistakes” and “bad business choices,” but denied scamming or stealing from anyone.
The FBI is now asking potential victims to come forward. They can file a complaint online at Ic3.gov, over the phone or schedule an in-person appointment.
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