The RCMP "F" Division Commercial Crime Section along with other police agencies are currently investigating a series of counterfeit credit card frauds that have occurred in Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, rural Saskatchewan and rural Alberta.
We wish to make the public aware, especially merchants, of these types of offences so they can take appropriate steps to protect themselves and not be victimized. The counterfeit credit cards the suspects are using for payment do not contain the security features of legitimate credit cards and do not appear to be embossed with raised numbers or a cardholder name. When the credit card is presented for payment and swiped in a point of sale terminal the magnetic stripe data cannot be read properly. To complete the transaction, merchants and their employees have resorted to manually entering the credit card numbers located on the face of the card. These are legitimate numbers that have been compromised and are just printed onto the face of a counterfeited credit card.
Merchants should exercise extreme caution when accepting credit cards when the magnetic stripe or chip data cannot be read by a point of sale terminal. Merchants and their employees should be knowledgeable of the proper payment card acceptance procedures and follow them in all circumstances. Other options would be to ask for another form of electronic payment or have the customer return with cash. Merchants who have not followed proper payment card acceptance procedures have been charged back the amount of the sale and ultimately incurred the loss in these cases.
We encourage all credit card holders to be extra diligent in monitoring their accounts and to report any suspicious transactions immediately to their card issuer.
The public's assistance is also requested in identifying those responsible for these offences. Further information about these offences and those believed responsible can be found on the Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers web site: www.saskcrimestoppers.com
