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Hundreds Of Customers Accuse Indiana Travel Agent Of Fraud

(CBS) -- Their dream vacations crushed and destination weddings ruined. Hundreds of people are accusing a Northwest Indiana travel agent of scamming them out of thousands of dollars.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker shares their stories in this Original Report and asks how could this happen?

Punta Cana was the family vacation Rosemarie Murphy-Gordon dreamed of when she paid travel agent Nicole Scott $3,080. They were to leave next month, traveling with a group of 17 others, who paid Scott $13,000.

You know it didn't happen. That was really sad. The kids were extremely sad.

Cristina Aguirre says she is a bridesmaid for a friend's wedding in Puerto Vallarta. She says the destination wedding scheduled for June 26 was nearly ruined by Scott.

"It went from being a great 50 plus people attending Bertha and Raoul's wedding to now a little under 20," Aguirre said.

The group, including the bride and groom, thought they'd booked flights and a five star resort. After paying, Aguirre and others, like Murphy-Gordon had trouble reaching Scott.

"I kept calling her to see when I would receive my itinerary," Aguirre said.

And when Scott returned calls, it was usually bad news.

"Hi Cristina, it's Nicole Scott calling you back about that trip to Puerto Vallarta. There's a little holdup," one call said.

Emails also revealed issues. Aguirre's bank statements shows she paid in full in mid-January. An email on February 3 from Scott tells Aguirre, "You have not been charged so no worries there."

A frustrated Aguirre created a Facebook page and called it Victims of Nicole Scott Sunbound Travels.

Nearly a hundred people shared horror stories like...."we paid $4,100 for a Disney trip...or "She took us for over $20,000"

"We probably have a list of well over 300 victims," said Chesterton Police Chief David Cincoski.

More than 80 have filed complaints with the Chesterton police against Scott, who lives in the small Indiana town. No one answered when CBS 2 knocked on her door.

"We are finding through some of our investigations that on many occasions, clients would reserve a trip, provide a credit card number and then that credit card number would be used to pay for someone else's trip entirely different," said Chief Cincoski.

One tour operator, Apple Vacations, also filed a police report stating Scott would "falsify travel documents" and says it has suffered a "loss in excess of $35,000."

"I'd like to see her prosecuted because she needs to understand the depth of what she's done you know, the depth of the loss for so many people," said Rosemarie Murphy-Gordon.

Nicole Scott did not respond to any of our calls.

The Indiana and Illinois attorneys general have also received complaints and are investigating Nicole Scott on accusations of fraud.

Reputable travel agents say you should always get your receipt and your itinerary immediately after booking your trip. If you don't, that's a huge red flag.

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