CAA to refer 'fraudulent' Thomas Cook refund activity to police

The authority said on Tuesday (8 October) it had taken “urgent action” in response to what it says it believes was “attempted fraudulent activity” relating to refunds for Thomas Cook customers.

“We are informing the police of this activity and are implementing further verification checks to protect consumers,” said the CAA.

“Where we see evidence of fraud, we will seek to prosecute any individuals or organisations involved. If you have made a claim directly with us, then your claim is being processed and you do not need to take any action.”

Delayed a week to allow the CAA to focus on repatriating the more than 140,000 Cook passengers left stranded overseas when the iconic operator collapsed on 23 September, the refund process got off to a shaky start on Monday morning (7 October) when the online claim form struggled to handle demand.

However, by 1pm on Tuesday, the CAA said it had received 100,000 refund submissions, adding the first automatic direct debut refunds had been paid out to Cook customers.