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Air Canada Gift Card receipt - phishing scam?

Air Canada Gift Card receipt - phishing scam?

Old Nov 21, 2014, 11:07 am
  #1  
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Air Canada Gift Card receipt - phishing scam?

A couple of times in the last two weeks, I've received a notfication from [email protected] with a new gift card receipt, despite my not having ordered one, and not being aware of anyone having dropped a $200 gift card on my behalf. Each has a different (and legitimate looking) gift card number and PIN combination.

My first assumption is that it's phishing scam, but I can't figure out the payoff... the contained links and phone numbers appear to be legit, there's no "log in here to claim your card" link that appear to be out to steal my credentials. It was sent to the e-mail address that Air Canada has on file for me... which is not widely shared and does not receive much traffic, spam or otherwise.

The only strong clue that it's not legit are that the subject line changes -- "Air Canada Gift Card receipt" on one, and "Air Canada Gift Card Receipt" (note capitalization) on the other.

Well, that and I have no idea why I'd be receiving $200 gift cards out of the blue. I guess that's a pretty strong tipoff as well.

Anyone else getting unexpected (and potentially illegitimate) gift cards in the last little while? I received one on the 13th, and one today.
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 11:28 am
  #2  
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Info on scams from Air Canada's website

http://www.aircanada.com/en/customer...ail_scams.html


Telephone and email scams

Email scams (phishing) and telephone scams (vishing) are commonly used by fraudsters to trick people into giving them personal information that can then be used to try to take money out of a victim's bank account, use their credit cards or open new credit accounts.

Email scams (phishing)
Phishing is the practice of sending phony email messages that are disguised as legitimate. These phony emails often include:

a company logo that looks real,
a false claim about your account and
a link or button that takes you to a phony website that mimics the website of a legitimate company.
If you receive an email claiming to be from Air Canada or Aeroplan which you believe may be fraudulent, do not respond and do not click on any links or open attachments contained within the email. See the Reporting section below.

Telephone scams (vishing)
With telephone scams, a person typically receives a phone call, sometimes computer-generated, advising them that they have won a trip, vacation or other sort of prize from Air Canada, or another well-known company. The individual is then asked to provide a credit card number and/or other personal information.

These types of calls are scams, as Air Canada does not engage in phone promotions.

Reporting suspicious emails or telephone calls
Air Canada cooperates with the RCMP in the investigation of all cases in which its name is involved. You can report suspicious emails or telephone calls to the RCMP Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre at: [email protected].

If you responded to a suspicious email, gave personal information or have lost money, please call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

You can also notify Air Canada by forwarding the email to: [email protected].

For more information
The RCMP offers additional useful information on email fraud and telephone scams. You can also visit the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada website.

Weve also provided answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 11:38 am
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Have you tried redeeming them? Seems to be the best way to test?
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 11:44 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by HometoYYZ
the contained links and phone numbers appear to be legit.
They always do. MHO is to not click on any links in unknown and unsolicited correspondence.
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 12:18 pm
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Originally Posted by tcook052
They always do. MHO is to not click on any links in unknown and unsolicited correspondence.
That's what I'm defaulting to as well. Although the phone number IS legit, and it's an entirely plain text e-mail, so there's no way the only link (to www.aircanada.com) could be hijacked and it hidden in the HTML.

Still... e-mailed the phishing address @aircanada.ca mentioned above, because there's no way I've received two random $200 AC gift cards in the last two weeks. Unless there's some sort of little-known promotion giving away $200 gift cards on $200 Tango Fares from YTZ-YUL. If that's the case, I'm gonna buy some more of those!
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 12:49 pm
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https://www.giftcard.aircanada.com/b...x?locale=en_ca

Check the balance online.

Ron.
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 1:48 pm
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>> and it's an entirely plain text e-mail

as in .txt format, not html ?

Text-only links with apparently correct web addresses can lead to totally different actual address. Hover your mouse pointer on the link and look at the bottom of the browser for the actual address.

Verifying the actual gift card balance by going to the official website, an address you enter yourself.
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 3:49 pm
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Suspicious Emails

Has anyone else been receiving emails from "[email protected]" like this:

************************************************** ***************
This is a receipt only. Replies on this email thread cannot be accepted.

************************************************** ***************

We are pleased to provide the Air Canada Gift Card in the amount of CAD100.00. Your gift card number is:



Please note the four digits after the comma represent the Security Code/Pin.

Your gift card will be activated within 24 hours and ready to use.

Simply provide your gift card number at time of payment on www.aircanada.com (Canadian and U.S. editions only) or through the Air Canada Call Centre at 1-888-247-2262.

To pay for the flight, you can use:

One (1) Air Canada Gift Card plus another form of payment if the card’s value is less than your grand total; or
Up to two (2) Air Canada Gift Cards if the combined value covers the grand total of your purchase



Additional Terms and Conditions are as follows:

Terms & Conditions
Air Canada Gift Cards are valid once activated and monetary value added. Redeemable at designated locations. Only for purchase of air travel and ancillary services offered by Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada rouge operated flights. Maximum two forms of payment combinable on single purchase. Treat card like cash. Stored value not refundable/redeemable for cash, except where required by law. Card may be replaced under certain conditions for a $25.00 fee, subject to applicable law. Use of card constitutes acceptance of all Terms and Conditions. Air Canada reserves the right to change Terms and Conditions without notice.


I have not contacted AC about anything in over 8 months. Have received emails like this twice in the last week. Both times right after landing so that's the only reason I'm even asking about them.

Are they legit or a scam? The "help-aircanada.com" domain seems like a scammer domain... It takes you to a "domain hosted by Rack Space" landing page...

Last edited by MrMacko; Nov 26, 2014 at 11:26 pm
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 3:58 pm
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Other thread from today

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...hing-scam.html
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Old Nov 21, 2014, 5:36 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by tcook052
They always do. MHO is to not click on any links in unknown and unsolicited correspondence.
Checking the headers usually tells you where it actually comes from. Although some e-mailsfrom AC don't really come from AC either.

First step is to stay away from Microsoft anyway.
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Old Nov 26, 2014, 12:58 am
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Got one of these $100 gift cards by e-mail the other day, and was buying tickets later that day. Thought I'd try just to see if it worked...and it did!

No idea why I received the certificate, or if somehow they have been able to phish my credit card number because of this, but did receive $100 off my ticket...
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Old Nov 26, 2014, 2:38 pm
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Originally Posted by pifloyd
...... or if somehow they have been able to phish my credit card number because of this....
I would guess this is their angle. Sounds very fishy to me.
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Old Dec 16, 2014, 7:08 pm
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I received one of these last month and just ignored it, assuming it was a scam of some sort.

But today I just received another one. However this one included TWO gift card numbers, one with my first name associated with is, and one with my husband's.

The chances of an automatic spammer having both of our names is pretty unlikely.

The only thing I can think of is that I purchased tickets a few months ago for YYZ-YVR and YVR-YYZ in premium economy for next week. For the first leg the PNR was only for me, but for the second leg the PNR was for the two of us. Perhaps they are giving out gift cards for the "inconvenience" of changing the Premium Economy booking to a Latitude fare? (although in the end that worked out better for us, but that's a different story).

I tried checking on-line for the gift card balance, but I get the error: "Card balance unavailable. The card number you entered may be incorrect, has no available history, or is a promotional card for which balance information is not available or has expired."
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Old Dec 16, 2014, 7:14 pm
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Originally Posted by Toronto1970
I received one of these last month and just ignored it, assuming it was a scam of some sort.

But today I just received another one. However this one included TWO gift card numbers, one with my first name associated with is, and one with my husband's.

The chances of an automatic spammer having both of our names is pretty unlikely.

The only thing I can think of is that I purchased tickets a few months ago for YYZ-YVR and YVR-YYZ in premium economy for next week. For the first leg the PNR was only for me, but for the second leg the PNR was for the two of us. Perhaps they are giving out gift cards for the "inconvenience" of changing the Premium Economy booking to a Latitude fare? (although in the end that worked out better for us, but that's a different story).

I tried checking on-line for the gift card balance, but I get the error: "Card balance unavailable. The card number you entered may be incorrect, has no available history, or is a promotional card for which balance information is not available or has expired."

Did you also look closely at the return address of the emails?
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Old Dec 16, 2014, 7:42 pm
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Originally Posted by 24left
Did you also look closely at the return address of the emails?
Good point. The domain for help-aircanada.com is registered to a tech company in Plano, Texas. It just seems very bizarre that a scammer would have both of our names (with no apparent scam angle since there are no links to follow)
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