Zoom Airlines operations suspended
Zoom Airlines has announced suspension of their operations on their website.
Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority recommends pursuing the following avenues to inquire into obtaining refunds:
- If the trip was booked through a travel agent or wholesaler, ask them for assistance or to request a refund.
- If they purchased travel services with a credit card, call or write to find out if they will reverse the charges.
- If they have purchased insurance, contact the carrier to confirm their coverage.
American Express has stated that they will refund their customers who purchased Zoom Airlines tickets using their credit cards. View the American Express media release.
MasterCard is advising Canadians who purchased Zoom Airlines tickets with their MasterCard and who are unable to obtain a refund or replacement ticket for flights cancelled in connection with Zoom Airlines to contact their card issuers. View the MasterCard media release.
Visa Inc. recommends travelers who used a Visa card to purchase tickets on Zoom Airlines contact the financial institution that issued their card if they are unable to make arrangements to use their tickets on another airline as a result of Zoom's decision to cease operations. Visa cardholders in transit can contact the Visa emergency line at 1-800-VISA-911 for emergency travel assistance. View the
Visa media release.
Nigerian letter fraud explained
The Globe and Mail did a recent article on the topic which gave a good outline of two common advance fee frauds aka Nigerian letter schemes. Here is an excerpt:
"Nigeria didn't invent the advance fee fraud, better known as the 419 after the section of the Nigerian criminal code that prohibits making money through fraud. By some accounts it existed in the late 1600s and was known as the Spanish prisoner scam. You will recognize the elements. The mark is approached by someone who claims to be in correspondence with a wealthy person who has been wrongly imprisoned. All the mark had to do to win a handsome reward was to provide money to bribe the guards."
Her are two email examples provided in the Globe story:
"One is from a person claiming to be Mrs. Suhu Tawil Arafat, who says she is the widow of the late Yasser Arafat and needs my help to gain access to $10.5-million (U.S.). It appears that she wants me to put this money into my account to safeguard it for her. In return, I will receive a percentage and may even be trusted with more money later. All she needs is my bank details. You know what happens next.
"Another is from someone who says he is Mr. Jesslie Chui and is a senior manager at the Bank of China in Hong Kong. He apparently had a wealthy Iraqi client who deposited $10.8-million with him and subsequently died, leaving no next of kin. He's worried that the Chinese government will get the money, so wants me to pretend to be the next of kin. We're apparently going to share this money (70 per cent for him and 30 per cent for me). But first he needs a few personal details."