Scam artist fools 50 victims in WestJet points scheme

More and more people are coming forward in B.C., saying they've lost hundreds of dollars to a conartist in an airline points scam.

WestJet officials say about 50 angry customers have lodged complaints, saying they were taken by a man selling airline credits on the online classifieds site craigslist.

Some of the victims said they checked with the airline first to make sure they could use the credits to pay for their flights. WestJet spokesman Richard Bartrem said the airline was initially fooled into believing the credits were legitimate but later discovered they were bought using stolen credit cards.

"Unfortunately, we are dealing with a very sophisticated scam," Bartrem said. "The perpetrator is dealing with overseas credit cards, where the lag time that we're getting from the credit card company before it's reported to us as stolen can be lengthy."

Vancouver police are investigating the case and are warning consumers to trust their instincts.

"If something looks too good to be true, likely it might be," Const. Howard Chow said. "If you have any doubt, any suspicion, don't buy it; if you have to meet someone on the street to do this transaction, likely don't buy it."

WestJet is refusing to honour the credits but has offered the victims of the scam an undisclosed discounted fare.