The RCMP have discovered a new form of identity theft in Chilliwack, in which a credit card is loaded with another person’s information. A Vedder area liquor store found several fraudulent credit card transactions on its books, from July 2012 to January 4, 2013, and alerted the RCMP at the end of last month.
The way the scam works is the suspect tries to buy liquor with a new MasterCard, but the card reads an error. The clerk then swipes the card again, at which point the transaction goes through, but with another card holder’s information.
“It’s the first time that we’ve seen that type of setup,” says Constable Tracy Wolbeck. “It’s a pretty unique method, for sure. It’s nothing I’ve seen, and it’s nothing we see often.”
She added in a press release: “It has been confirmed that in some of these cases, the credit card data used to fraudulently make purchases has been obtained from people who have had their vehicles broken into and wallets stolen.”
The person whose credit card data is used for the purchase never knows the transaction happens until she or he sees the bill.
RCMP do not yet know how this is done.
“We really cannot stress enough the importance of not leaving your wallet in your car. Identity theft is very far-reaching and this is just one example of it,” concluded Wolbeck in the press release.
RCMP request that people with any information on these crimes or any other crime call the Chilliwack RCMP at 604-792-4611 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).