Air travel in 2025 is busier than ever, with airlines projected to carry a record 5.2bn passengers this year, marking a 6.7% increase from 2024 and surpassing the 5bn milestone for the first time.
As passenger numbers grow, the digital transformation of ticketing has accelerated rapidly, with 85% of bookings now made online and tickets typically delivered via email or mobile apps, claims Resistant AI.
This digital shift has created new opportunities for fraudsters. With generative AI, online template farms, and affordable editing tools, scammers can now create convincing fake flight tickets and boarding passes. These forgeries have been used to manipulate insurance claims, secure refunds, bypass immigration checks, and exploit airlines—costing businesses millions each year.
Flight tickets remain crucial for travel verification, acting as proof of purchase, reservation, and travel history. Digital e-tickets typically include passenger information, flight details, pricing breakdowns, seat assignments, and booking references. While boarding passes enable airport access and boarding, flight tickets confirm the right to travel—making them essential for insurance claims, visa applications, and employment relocation verification.
Threat intelligence research shows that fake flight ticket templates are cheap and easy to acquire, with over 1,380 templates identified across 26 farms at an average price of just $6.64. This accessibility has made fraud detection increasingly challenging for manual reviewers.
Experts highlight several red flags that can expose forgeries, including inconsistent formatting, invalid flight numbers, unrealistic pricing, inaccurate airport codes, and suspicious metadata—such as PDF files created using graphic design software rather than airline systems.
Manual verification methods—such as checking booking references with airlines, confirming flight details against official schedules, or reviewing multiple documents for inconsistencies—are still used by insurers, border control agents, and employers. However, the scale and sophistication of modern fraud mean manual checks are often too slow and error-prone.
AI-powered verification solutions offer a scalable alternative, detecting subtle anomalies in document layouts, embedded metadata, and submission patterns. Machine learning models can validate formats at pixel-level precision, detect generative AI patterns, and cross-reference documents against verified airline data in real time.
While automation handles basic rule-based checks, AI goes further, spotting context-aware fraud tactics such as mismatched flight times or altered ticket numbers that follow realistic but fraudulent patterns.
As fake flight tickets become more convincing, businesses relying on travel verification—from insurers to travel agencies—are turning to AI to protect against financial losses and operational disruption. Advanced detection tools, such as those offered by Resistant AI, provide accuracy and speed far beyond what manual checks or simple automation can deliver.
Copyright © 2025 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
