KATHMANDU, JUNE 5
A group of hackers have hacked into the ticket sales system of Nepali travel and tour operators, inflicting losses to the tune of more than Rs 20 million.
According to Ramesh Thapa, president of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, a group of hackers gained access to the ticket sales system through phishing e-mails sent under the logo and names of global distribution system (GDS) companies that has resulted in the loss of millions of rupees for Nepali tour operators.
“The hackers gained access to the system by sending phishing e-mails in the guise of foreign GDS companies.
Nepali travel operators use MIS, Sabre and Galileo ticket booking systems and have the authority to issue a certain number of tickets, which is called ticket capping. After hacking into the system, the hackers issued the airline tickets worth over Rs 20 million, which the travel operators will have to pay to the airline companies,” he explained.
Thapa further informed that the Cyber Bureau of the Nepal Police has been informed and they are investigating the incident. “They have advised us to remain vigilant and asked us to inform our members to be aware of such incidents. So far, most of the tickets have been issued through the Sabre system,” he shared.
The affected Nepali firms include Deurali Travel and Tours, Cosmo Nepal Travels and Tours and Sea Links Travels and Tours. The foreign hackers are found to have issued tickets amounting between six million rupees and eight million rupees from each company.
Thapa further shared that the hackers had issued most of the tickets to Morocco.
Anupa Budhathoki, general manager of Sabre Network Nepal – which has been providing GDS service to Nepali travel companies – confirmed that foreign hackers had sent fake e-mails in the names of GDS companies to Nepali ticketing agencies.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 6, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
