Note to travellers planning to cross the border to visit friends: don't fudge the details and make sure you know who your friends are.

That's the lesson one U.S. man received last weekend, after he was unable to tell Canadian border guards where the female friend he was supposedly heading to visit lived or even what her phone number was. According to Canada Border Services Agency, the man said he had travelled from California that morning (July 18), and planned to return home the same night via Vancouver airport.

Later, the man admitted he'd been driving with a male acquaintance he met eight months ago. The second man reportedly claimed to be Canadian, suggested the pair travel together and paid for the trip, he said. But when the two reached Peace Arch Park, the passenger took off, telling the driver to call once he got across the border.

The driver was sent back to the States. It's not clear if the second man was located.

Other northbound travellers turned away last weekend include a man with a 1994 rape conviction who was hauling belongings for a friend who is currently in a U.S. prison (July 18); a man arrested seven times for theft over $5,000 who was headed to meet a female online friend (July 18); and a Vancouver beach-bound man who confirmed he was living in his minivan to save money for his daughter's college fund (July 17).

Another two men who were so nervous they were shaking were refused entry to Canada last Friday (July 17). The pair – who reacted to news they had to turn back by verbally abusing the officers – claimed they had driven from Oregon after Googling Vancouver, and planned to stay in a cheap motel. They had barely $200 US between them, noted CBSA officials.

Compassion ruled in a July 16 decision to let a man with a 'serious criminality' conviction from the 1990s into Canada. Guards gave the man a five-day pass so he could visit his father, who has a deteriorating heart condition, in West Vancouver.

Last but not least, a U.S. woman and her fiance were denied entry July 15 after checks linked to several charges and convictions, including delivering a controlled substance, child neglect and supplying contraband.