Zaheen Rhemtulla, one of the scam’s victims, came forward in December 2006. The Vancouver woman spent $2,000 on fake vouchers sold on the popular classifieds website, craigslist – but not before calling WestJet to confirm the credits were authentic.

WestJet officials said the airline’s employees were also fooled by the scam, and did not discover that the vouchers were purchased with stolen credit cards until Rhemtulla and several other customers were out of pocket. The airline refused to honour the bogus credits, but offered the victims discounted fares.

WestJet spokesman Richard Bartram said the airline worked with police on the case, and is introducing new security measures to prevent future cons.

Vancouver police say they suspect there may be more victims and different airlines used in similar schemes.