The above has been common sense advice over the years for people living or visiting near the Mexico/USA border. Recently the Canadian government web site issued a warning for Canadian travellers.

OFFICIAL WARNING: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against non-essential travel to Ciudad Juárez, due to escalating violence linked to drug trafficking. Although foreigners have not been typically targeted, on March 14, 2010, two American nationals were shot to death in Ciudad Juárez, including a consular official. Travellers are advised to reconsider their need to travel to Ciudad Juárez and should only do so if it is absolutely necessary.

This official statement means travellers already booked for the regions mentioned can put in a claim on their trip insurance for cancellation. If you have a vacation or business trip already booked then you now have legitimate reason to cancel and your insurance will pay for any losses incurred.

It is a regional warning from the government of Canada and should not be taken lightly.

However, the tourist areas for most Canadian vacationers are quite far from the dangerous areas on the border. Mexico is huge. The problem areas are thousands of miles away from the tourist areas. This warning does not mean cancellation costs will be covered by their trip insurance.

Problems in Mexico usually happen when someone is somewhere they shouldn’t be, doing something they shouldn’t be doing. You shouldn’t be in Ciudad Juarez and you should be soliciting drugs illegally.

This bad publicity taints all of Mexico. In Canadian terms, it is comparable to stating their is a drug turf war in Montreal, so I better cancel my vacation in Edmonton. The distances and situations reflect the same type of reasoning.

There are sections of any Canadian city where I would not feel safe. Mexico is the same and now even more so in the border areas. It’s always been like that, perhaps a little more so lately.

Book Mexico, but use common sense to guide your choices and actions no matter where you vacation.

• things you can do
• things you must do
• things you shouldn’t do
• things you can’t do

while travelling abroad.

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• Mexico travel alert issued by Ottawa (cbc.ca)
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• Ottawa warns Canadians against travel to Mexico (nationalpost.com)

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• Just as an information update.
• Eleven hundred Canadians are in Chile.
• Chile has past experience with earthquakes.
• This was one of the most powerful ever recorded.
• This earthquake was off shore.
• 90 seconds in the middle of the night.
• 500 times more energy than Haiti’s disastrous quake.
• More than 50 powerful aftershocks so far.
• Concepción (second largest Chilean city) hardest hit.
• Half a million homes damaged.

What an horrendous event to live through.

May God be with the victims and survivors.

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• Cruise ships leave dockyard

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When “Go Travel South” went south, it left many questions on the minds of travel customers.

Foremost among these fears is what can I do if my tour operator or travel agent suddenly goes out of business?

• Travel customers who book their vacation using a credit card should contact their credit card company for a refund for services not rendered.
• Travellers who opt for travel insurance should check if the coverage includes operator default, which provides reimbursement should a tour operator or air carrier go out of business. Travel Insurance usually covers all services not refunded by other means.
• The Canadian Transportation Agency accepts complaints from consumers dissatisfied with the air portion of a travel package. You will not get a refund, but registering complaints may help someone else down the road.
• If your retailler was a registered TICO travel agency then you are covered for bankruptcy losses.

No matter how you slice it, it is darned inconvenient to have to make claims, provide proof of claims and wait for payment of claims.

If it is not discretionary money you are earmarking for your vacation then I would recommend all precautions be taken when paying for your trip. Foremost of which is to use a trusted Travel Professional. They and their past knowledge and experiences can guide you through pitfalls and around mine fields that pock mark the online travel industry. The travel agent is on your side.

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This article from the Canadian Government web site is worth the read. It was too important to just summarize. Here is the entire article.

Common types of scams

Although most Canadians are now aware of fraud attempts carried out by companies or individuals in foreign countries, especially in Africa, many Canadians are still victimized and cheated out of merchandise, services and money. Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Algeria, Guinea and Senegal are some of the countries where fraud is a popular and lucrative activity.

Certain types of commercial or professional scams have become very common, including:

• Emails in which a foreign company requires fees or merchandise in order to honour a contract with its government.
• Emails and calls offering to purchase merchandise such as crude oil or precious stones, and making business proposals on the condition that you travel to the country in question.
• Announcements offering to purchase exotic or domestic animals from foreign countries, with advance payment required.
• Emails promising to help secure a visa or guaranteeing a job abroad.
• Emails or calls offering to make a charitable donation to an organization, by asking for information on which bank account to use.
• Loan offers from shadow banks in foreign countries, in which personal information is required in order to open an account.
• Vacation home rental offers from fake agencies using false addresses and altered photos of the home to be rented.

Other types of personal scams are reported, including:

• Emails from fictitious foreign organizations promising an inheritance, prize or money won, and asking for payment for mailing costs or taxes.
• Emails promising financial compensation, in exchange for wiring money through a personal bank account.
• Calls where a con artist poses as a foreign doctor or healthcare professional and contacts the family and friends of a Canadian traveller, informing them that the traveller is in the hospital and that money is required for medical treatment.
• Falsified emails in which a con artist poses as a Canadian known by the target who is stuck in a foreign country after being the victim of theft, an accident or kidnapping, and claiming he needs money to pay for hotel or hospital bills, visas and/or airplane tickets.
• False Internet friendships in which a con artist claims to want to come to Canada and asks for financial assistance or help obtaining an entry visa.
• Marriage schemes as a result of Internet-based relationships. Thesecases may involve the victim being extorted by the in-laws living abroad, or being forced to sponsor a spouse who will abandon the victim upon arrival in Canada. These types of situations are especially common in Morocco, Algeria, Guinea and Senegal.
• Letters or announcements advertising the private adoption of a child. A foreign con artist poses as the mother of a child or as a lawyer in charge of finding an adoptive family, and describes a difficult situation, often providing fake photos of a child.
• Letters addressed to former victims of fraud from fictitious organizations that claim to have successfully caught the con artists, and promising compensation for losses incurred the first time.
• Death notices sent to the loved ones of a Canadian traveller by a fictitious foreign funeral home, asking them to send money to repatriate the body to Canada. Counterfeit pieces of identification are often used.

Not only can scams cause considerable financial losses, but many of them can also represent a serious threat to the personal safety of the victims. Many victims are convinced to travel to an African country to complete a business transaction, accept a job, get married or to try to recover money sent to the con artist. Some cases have resulted in violent situations, including kidnappings and forced imprisonment. Canadian consular officials are often limited in the assistance they can provide to the victims.

Warning: increasingly common and sophisticated scams

Every day, new cases are reported in which Canadians have requested consular assistance after having their safety compromised by a scam, and it is predicted that the number of victims will continue to rise. In many countries, con artists operate without consequences, because local authorities often do not have the physical or financial resources needed to combat Internet crimes.

Organized fraud networks are developing more and more innovative and sophisticated approaches to deceive their victims and to extort money, in both small and large amounts. The criminals conduct extensive searches to create credible documents: completeprofiles of fictitious businesses, medical reports, falsified export certificates, etc. The names and logos of reputable organizations, governments and government agencies are often used fraudulently. Websites that appear very authentic are also falsified.

How can you protect yourself?

Any unsolicited business proposal should be carefully examined before you send any money, provide a service or merchandise, or make travel arrangements.

• Verify your solicitor’s identity.
• Before completing a transaction, verify the authenticity of the proposed method of payment or demand full payment in advance.
• Be cautious of requests for signed and stamped blank letterhead or invoices.
• Be cautious of solicitors claiming that your name was provided by someone you do not know.
• Be cautious of professional messages written with poor grammar or written with an inappropriate level of language. The country’s official language should normally be used.
• Be cautious of job offers for which the conditions seem too good to be true (unrealistic salary, paid vacations, extended holidays) or job offers that require you to pay for initial travel or required documents.
• Never disclose banking information, even if the solicitor claims to need the information to deposit a signing bonus.
• Verify entry requirements (visas) and government immigration policies in the country you plan on visiting for business. No outside organization or agency should be involved in issuing travel documents. Letters addressed to immigration officers are not valid.

Exercise caution when travelling to meet individuals met on the Internet.

• Verify the identity of the person you plan on meeting abroad.
• Keep in mind that for a foreign spouse, marrying a Canadian citizen can represent a way to obtain an immigration visa. A number of Canadians have left their jobs and their homes, and have sold all of their belongings for a marriage abroad that ended up failing or that never took place.
• Find out in advance about the laws and customs regarding relationships and marriage in the destination country. 
• Travel to the destination country with a return ticket and enough money to stay in a hotel,and keep all of your travel documents in a safe location. Keep contact information for the nearest Canadian government office abroad, in case a problem arises.

It is strongly recommended that you stay informed of current types of scams by conducting regular Internet searches.

How can you get help?

Do not hesitate to contact the nearest Canadian government office abroad or to telephone our Emergency Operations Centre at 613‑996‑8885 (collect calls are possible from certain countries) if:

• You need assistance abroad after a fraud attempt.
• You need help to return to Canada.
• You feel you will be unfairly treated under a country’s laws.
• You have doubts about the legitimacy of request for assistance from someone you know who is allegedly experiencing difficulties abroad.

The Government of Canada cannot intervene in private legal affairs, and has no influence over another country’s legal proceedings. However, officials from the nearest Canadian government office abroad can provide you with a list of lawyers in the country in question. For more information on the services offered by Canadian consular officials, visit our About us page.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s anti-fraud call centre PhoneBusters can also provide information to help you.

Read the original article here.

Truth and shades of truth are hard to police, hard to perceive, hard to understand and easy to believe.

The old adage if it’s too good to be true, it probably is fits much of the web hyperbole.

This ongoing manipulation of hotel revues has been debated for months now. I use SiteAdvisor, but with caution.

Does TripAdvisor hotel manipulation scandal render the site completely useless?

How do I boost my TripAdvisor rating?

That’s the most common question I get from hotel executives. And even though I try to persuade them it’s the wrong question — that there’s no proven link between a good review and bookings — they insist that their TripAdvisor reviews are the be-all and end-all.

Does TripAdvisor hotel manipulation scandal render the site completely useless?

Having covered the site since the very start, I think I’m uniquely qualified to answer that question. And my answer is: maybe.

Read more here

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