Yukon RCMP probe travel website
Yukon RCMP say they are investigating complaints by tourism operators about a website that advertises and sells their travel packages without their knowledge or consent.
The RCMP's commercial crimes section is working with U.S. law enforcement authorities to look into yukonvacation.com, after tourism operators whose businesses are listed on the website told Yukon government officials they had never heard of the site, and certainly never agreed to do business with it.
Police have tracked down the website to a post office box in Vancouver, Wash., and an internet hosting company in Houston, Texas, Yukon RCMP Cpl. Randy Reed told CBC News on Monday.
However, Reed said, that does not necessarily mean investigators are moving closer to the people behind the website.
"Those addresses, while they may be legitimate, somebody could be operating a website remotely from just about anywhere in the world," he said.
In the meantime, Reed encouraged Yukon tourism officials to complain to yukonvacation.com's hosting company, which police identified as ThePlanet.com of Houston.
It may refuse to host a company's site, albeit temporarily, if it receives complaints from credible sources that the site is suspected of committing fraud, Reed added.
"So with a little luck, the individual companies here that have been aggrieved and Tourism Yukon, I believe, should have some luck in terms of getting the site pulled down," he said.
Tourism group makes contact with owners
Earlier this month, the Yukon government warned about 30 tourism operators that appear on yukonvacation.com about the website, after government officials were unable to track down the site's owners.
CBC News and some tour operators have been trying to email the owners of the website, with no reply to date.
But Rod Taylor, chairman of the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon, told CBC News that he received a reply from yukonvacation.com within hours of emailing a query to the site on Friday.
Taylor said someone with the website asked him for a list of companies that have complained about their listings.
Taylor said he will keep trying to get in touch with the site's owners, adding that he did try to get their phone number without success.
Lists rates for tours, accommodations
The site lists rates for a number of tour packages, motorhome rentals and accommodations across the Yukon, in some cases with a "best price guarantee."
A "reservation" form on the site asks customers for their personal information, including their credit card number, if they want to request a reservation to be made with any of the tourism operators listed.
However, a warning at the bottom of the page warns that the form is "not a reservation confirmation or a reservation document."
"We generally confirm a valid reservation by sending separately a company invoice and a tour voucher once full payment has been received/guaranteed," the warning states in part.
Reed recommends that travellers and tourism operators alike check out any internet-based travel company carefully, as some websites may be aimed at gathering customers' financial information without their consent.
Adventure tours in Nunavut
Yukonvacation.com also advertises adventure tours and companies in other parts of Canada's North, including seven different packages in Nunavut.
Staff with Elu Inlet Lodge, located south of Cambridge Bay, said they had never been contacted by yukonvacation.com, nor has it done any business with the site's owners.
"There is the potential for someone to book with this company," co-owner Luke Coady told CBC News.
"Because I don't see us having any affiliation with them … a person could mistakenly book a tour with this organization, and then this organization wouldn't even have to contact us."
Officials with Nunavut Tourism say they are looking into the matter.