EXCLUSIVE: Caribbean Sprinter Details Credit Card Fraud

News 5’s investigation into credit card fraud linked to Belize’s BPO sector has led to more businesses now disclosing significant financial losses tied to the scheme.

Water taxi company Caribbean Sprinter has confirmed it suffered significant financial losses after stolen credit card data and fake bank transfer receipts were used to purchase tickets.

In a statement, the company said individuals used stolen US credit card numbers to book tickets for other passengers, then resold those tickets locally for cash at reduced prices. The losses were compounded when US cardholders filed chargebacks, which automatically reverse payments under US consumer protection rules.

“For many of them, there were multiple card numbers attempted that failed before one finally went through,” Caribbean Sprinter said.

The company said it was losing about $5,000 each month. After introducing stronger controls, including identity verification, bank transfer tracking software, and credit card fraud detection systems, losses dropped to under $500 per month.

“Until the news about the BPO employees and the massive credit card fraud, we were unsure where the credit card numbers were coming from,” it stated. “The financial loss to businesses can be detrimental. Smaller businesses may not be able to pay employees or order more materials. Larger businesses are also at risk and may be cut off by their merchant services provider due to too many fraudulent transactions and lose the ability to sell their items or services.”

“The damage of the fraud does not stop at the merchants losing the funds,” Caribbean Sprinter added. According to the company, they received a case where a US cancer patient was unable to pay for transport to chemotherapy after her card was disabled due to fraudulent charges.