Increased credit card fraud in the airways business has prompted Mango airlines to announce on Thursday it is introducing tougher security measures.

Mango CEO Nico Bezuidenhout said in a statement that the airline would be introducing further security checks from 1 April.

He said this was in a bid to curb the increasing threat of credit card fraud and fraudulent sales offers.

Bezuidenhout said credit card fraud had increased substantially during the past 18 months and the new policy was designed to protect consumers against fraudulent transactions.

Late last year Mango issued a consumer cautionary after fraudulent sales offers were made to the public via the internet and email.

As part of the airline's increased security measures, all people who paid for their trips by credit card and planned to travel with Mango from 1 April would have to produce the transactional card.

"We recommend that sponsored flights should be purchased using an alternative payment method," Bezuidenhout said.

He also warned travellers to beware of fraudulent air ticket offers, which were often sent via email or found on websites.

"There have been emails circulating again promising highly discounted fares on several carriers and despite cautionary statements released it seems that these unscrupulous operators are still in business," he said.

To avoid ending up a fraud victim, he suggested travellers should book their travel arrangements through approved channels such as airline websites, agents that are members of the Association of South African Travel Agents or call centres.

When booking Mango tickets, Bezuidenhout said travellers could buy tickets at Shoprite Checkers and Checkers Hyper Money Market Kiosks or through Mango's secure on-line debit facility.

Sapa