Collin County Woman Accused In Cruise Scam

FARMERSVILLE (CBS11) - People in as many as four states including Texas are canceling plans for a summer cruise, after sheriff investigators arrested a woman in Collin County for theft.

The potential victims said they bought the trips through connections on Facebook, but it became clear this month that the cabins on a Carnival Cruise they were sold did not exist.

Sheriff investigators arrested Tracey Graf, of Farmersville. She faces a felony theft charge, and is out of jail after posting a $25,000 bond.

One of the potential victims, Amanda Moore, from Arkansas, said Graf offered them week-long trips through the Caribbean on the Carnival Freedom. The ship is scheduled to leave from Galveston July 1.

Moore said she and others learned about the trip on Facebook, from Graf's cousin.

She said she was told Graf was working as a travel agent, and could offer the trip for $250 per person, in order to fill spots that others had cancelled.

In a victim statement, Moore wrote that as many as 183 people were eventually part of a Facebook group full of people who had booked either that trip, or another one to Hawaii.

By late May however, Moore said people had not received booking information.

After online requests for refunds were deleted, people started to report the situation to law enforcement.

Court records show Graf was currently on community supervision, for a 2013 guilty plea on charges including forgery, and credit card abuse. She did not return a phone call Thursday night.

A representative of Carnival Cruise Lines said the company was aware of the case, and cooperating with law enforcement.