Waterloo regional police say two men from the Toronto area are facing charges in connection to a scam involving meat and gifts cards at local grocery stores.
The scammers allegedly placed fraudulent barcode stickers on top of barcodes for meat at grocery stores in Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo.
Police released a video that showed several instances of the men picking up meat and fidgeting with it before returning it to the cooler.
The meat was priced similarly to gift cards that the dupesters had ahold of, so when a shopper picked out some meat and brought it to the counter for checkout, they did not know they were paying to activate the gift cards rather than the meat they had purchased, according to police.
They allegedly operated the scam at stores in the area a number of times between last Halloween and Jan. 29.
Police say the duo were at a store near Erb Street West and Fischer-Hallman Road in Waterloo on Jan. 29 at around 6 p.m. when alert employees spotted the suspects placing barcodes on meat products before leaving the store.
The employees then called police and told them the pair had left the scene in a black Ford F150.
Officers soon pulled the vehicle over and arrested the pair. A 38-year-old and a 30-year-old, both from York Region, were charged with fraud under $5,000.
On Monday, police announced further charges against them, noting their alleged involvement in seven other incidents in the area.
They are now facing an additional seven charges of fraud under $5,000 as well as a charge of theft under $5,000.