Tips to avoid scammers who use the Swoop brand

At Swoop we like to consider ourselves a purveyor of digital service. You can securely search, book and pay online when it comes to your travel plans. However, when entering the digital sphere, you must also be aware of cyber criminals looking to take advantage of your trust in a brand or company. Scammers are getting more sophisticated in the tactics they use, and their emails or ads can be hard to distinguish from the real ones.

Here’s some tips and information on how to stay safe and avoid phishing or phone scams from someone pretending to be Swoop.

1. Top tips to avoid scammers

   

   Know that Swoop would never ask you for payment in any form to process a refund.

   Most recently we have warned travellers about a phone scam where someone asks for your credit card number or to purchase a gift card over the phone to process a refund. We won’t ask you over the phone or email for any type of payment information. If you are questioning the caller’s intention, something may not be right.

   

   Check the domain name of an email sender

   If the domain name (the bit after the @ symbol) does not have flyswoop contained in it, the message might be a fake. Suspicious domains can be long, misspelt, or from personal accounts like @gmail.com. Also ensure that the sender name matches the email.

   

   Verify phone numbers you look up online

   If you happen to locate or google a contact number or email for Swoop, ensure you verify it is correct by visiting the help page at www.flyswoop.com. If it is a false number, you may reach scammers who impersonate Swoop and then try to get your financial information. Remember, if it doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t.

   

   Report Fraud

   If you suspect you have been a victim of scam or fraud please contact local authorities and report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

By Marchella Barbero