{"id":2072,"date":"2013-05-30T09:04:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-30T13:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regulatory.blog\/?p=2072"},"modified":"2020-01-29T13:32:01","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T18:32:01","slug":"transport-industry-not-immune-to-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/help-center\/articles\/transport-industry-not-immune-to-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Transport Industry Not Immune to Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just like the rest of society, the transportation industry is not immune to scammers trying to help themselves to some unearned cash. And in the days of e-commerce, it\u2019s getting even easier.<\/p>\n

Recently, our attention was brought to some scammers fraudulently representing themselves as the International Air Transport Association (IATA). These fraudsters have concocted an e-mail scolding the recipients for not paying for their \u201cAnnual Review of Codes,\u201d and threatening that if the deadline for payment is missed, recipients will lose their \u201cassigned IATA airline codes.\u201d They then instruct recipients to obtain a repeat copy of the invoice (which, of course, the targets never received in the first place) from an e-mail address that looks similar, but not quite identical, to the official IATA one.
\n<\/p>\n

Of course, if you do not actually run an airline, you may quickly recognize that something is wrong. But the scammers obviously hope that such official-looking invoices may fool some recipients into paying first, and asking questions afterwards.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what the current scam text looks like. Note, of course, that scammers will frequently change the wording slightly to avoid being pegged as spam.<\/p>\n

\u201cDear IATA Code Holder,<\/em><\/p>\n

Your company have exceeded the deadline for the Annual Review of Codes. As of this time we still have not received payment for your 2013 Annual Review fees. Please be advised that failure to pay the invoice for your 2013 Annual Review fees which has already exceeded the deadline date will result in the recall of your assigned IATA airline codes.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Should you require an electronic copy of this invoice please advise, and one will be sent to you by e-mail.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0If you have made payment already, please provide the full banking details so that we may follow this up with our finance department and locate the payment. Please note any payment recently made, may not have had a chance to be reflected in our accounts.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Please be sure to quote your airline name, and assigned codes. This way it will be clear to us which airline we are dealing with when we receive your e-mail.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank You and Best Regards,<\/em><\/p>\n

(redacted signature)<\/em><\/p>\n

MITA\/CODING<\/em>
\n Tel + 514 874 020<\/em>
\n Fax + 514 390 677<\/em>
\n Accounts@iatapayment.org<\/em>
\n International Air Transport Association<\/em>
\n 800, Place Victoria, P.O. Box 113<\/em>
\n Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4Z 1M1″<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are some of the tipoffs of a scam in this e-mail:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The e-mail is not addressed to a specific individual, department\u00a0or even a company, despite its attempt to pass itself off as a response to a specific transaction.<\/li>\n
  2. The e-mail requests that the recipients identify themselves in the return e-mail, along with \u201cfull banking details\u201d. No invoice number is provided; instead, the target is told to ask for another copy.<\/li>\n
  3. Minor grammatical errors, such as \u201cyour company have\u201d, and unorthodox capitalization of words are a common sign of a scam.<\/li>\n
  4. Both the telephone number and fax number are missing their last digit. This reduces the likelihood that the recipient will try to obtain clarification from the real IATA by telephone \u2013 this would give the scam away immediately!<\/li>\n
  5. Most telling of all is the e-mail address and signature. In the e-mail that came to our attention, the name of a real IATA employee was used. However, the e-mail address and digital signature are not those of IATA.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    IATA\u2019s own security page, http:\/\/www.iata.org\/pages\/fraudulent-email.aspx, provides a series of tips to identify fraudulent e-communication. They include:<\/strong><\/p>\n