Tourists 'ripped off' booking skydive online

Two Chinese tourists were ''ripped off'' by a credit card fraudster.

An online booking company is helping two Chinese tourists ''ripped off'' by a credit card fraudster.

The pair were stopped by police on Tuesday while driving back to the resort after going skydiving in Wanaka.

They bought the skydives on social media app WeChat unaware the seller originally bought the experience on Bookme using stolen credit-card details, police say.

Bookme director Richard Thomas, of Queenstown, said the company was working with the pair and Queenstown police to try to recover their costs.

The company had ''zero tolerance'' for credit-card fraud, Mr Thomas said.

''Bookings that are onsold via WeChat and other social media platforms will not be honoured.

''We have robust fraud detection processes and systems in place which enabled us to identify the suspicious activity quickly.''

Senior Sergeant Paula Enoka, of Queenstown, said an investigation was under way into the fraudulent credit-card use.

But the principle of ''let the buyer beware'' applied in such cases, and she recommended people make their own inquiries before transferring money to third parties for goods and services.

The owner of the credit card was not Queenstown-based, she said.